Hahnville moved to 8-8 this season with a sweep of Lakeshore Tuesday followed by losses to Chapelle and South Lafourche.
The Tigers won three of their last five matches – included in that span is a split with Lutcher, after Hahnville lost in Dutchtown tournament action to the Bulldogs, 23-25, 25-15, 15-12 – prior to the Chapelle and SLHS matches. HHS and Lutcher met up for a rematch days later, and Hahnville answered the bell with a win in five sets, 12-25, 25-13, 25-22, 19-25, 17-15.
Hahnville head coach Mendi LeBoeuf sees a growing chemistry and comfort level with her team each time it takes the court, as it breaks in a largely new starting lineup this year.
“I think every time we go out there we’re making some improvements,” said LeBoeuf. “You can see that team cohesion improving as we go along.”
Hahnville controlled much of the action Tuesday night from start to finish in its 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 win over Lakeshore, save for the late stages of the second set. LeBoeuf said the Tigers did a good job of shaking that off and answering.
“We got a little bit lax toward the end of the second set and we had to come back and finish it off,” LeBoeuf said. “I was pleased in that we had to deal with a little adversity there and we were able to do that, then come back with a really good start to the third that led us to close it out.”
Maci Hollingsworth led the Tigers with 16 kills, while Jada Moore and Abigail Hotard each tallied nine. Hollingsworth also led her team in digs with 14, with Madyn Romero adding nine, Hotard seven and Sophia Hotard five.
Hollingsworth and Moore have been putting together strong games at the net all season for Hahnville, while Abigail Hotard, a freshman, has been rapidly climbing in her play. Moore and Hollingsworth are the team’s most experienced returning players and LeBoeuf said both have understood that means their roles in communicating on the court are even more important now, with so many new players in the lineup.
Integrating new players often means the defense comes with a learning curve, and LeBoeuf said that’s no different here.
“That’s a daily battle for us,” said LeBoeuf. “We pay attention to and talk about it every day, communicating and talking out there. Confidence is a big factor too, and we can see their confidence growing every day, which is huge. I think we’ve done a better job in between points, especially Maci and Jada, of communicating, and that in itself is helping in terms of increasing their confidence.”
In the win over Lutcher, Moore and Hollingsworth each had 21 kills. Hollingsworth, Romero and Sophia Hotard each served two aces, with Hotard also adding 26 assists. Addison Orgeron made 22 assists.
