St. Martinville stuns Highland with 3-0 volleyball win

Published 1:00 am Wednesday, August 31, 2022

For the first time in four years, the St. Martinville Senior High School volleyball team came away with a win against Highland Baptist, defeating the Lady Bears in three sets (26-24, 25-17, 25-23) on Monday.

Lady Tigers head coach Lucinda Mason said that while the win was an important step in starting the season the right way, there are still a few improvements that need to be made.

“It’s a big win for us, it is, but they make too many mistakes,” she said. “With five seniors on the floor, there are definitely improvements that can be made. I have young people that have stepped up and really allowed us to be able to come through.”

St. Martinville trailed at the start of the first set, but quickly settled into the game to establish a 21-19 lead. The Lady Tigers stumbled a bit in the last stretch of the set, falling behind to Highland 24-22, but solid defense and communication carried the home side to a 26-24 win in the first set.

St. Martinville kept up the momentum in the second set, cruising to a 7-1 lead. Highland Baptist looked unable to string together an offensive attack in the second set, scoring 1 or 2 points before returning possession to the Lady Tigers. St. Martinville easily won the second set with a score of 25-17.

The third set began much like the second, with an inconsistent Highland Baptist team falling behind to a solid defensive performance by St. Martinville. Trailing 13-8, the Lady Bears did begin to mount a comeback, eventually tying the game 22-22 before calling a timeout to regroup and reorganize. The Lady Tigers, momentarily stunned by Highland’s performance, returned to the court and secured the 25-23 win to end the game.

Mason said that she was ready to change her whole lineup as the team began to give away the lead in the third set, but was proud of her team for pulling out the win.

“I was almost ready to change the whole lineup,” she said. “It definitely woke them up. I’m proud of them, but like I tell them every day, we have to work hard every game and they’ll see the fruits of their labor.”

For Mason, the fruits in question are a better performance than last season and a deeper run in the LHSAA playoffs.

“We expect to go much deeper than last year, I expect to see us in the quarterfinals at the Cajundome,” she said. “That’s success for this team. Our biggest opponent, as far as the district, is going to be Catholic High. That’s going to be the game of the season, because everybody is going to be trying to win.”

For Highland Baptist head coach Chynna Brooks, her team comes away from the loss knowing what improvements need to be made.

“It wasn’t our best, for sure,” Brooks said. “We’re a completely different team than we were before, so I think the players just need to step up into their roles a little more. We saw glimpses of where we need to be, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and growing with the team. In the first set, we hit the ball well, we just have to find that consistency. We had some great passes at times and some great serves at times, we just have to be consistent.”

Brooks is in his first season as head coach at Highland, replacing longtime coach Brigette Boudreaux who began working as the Athletic Director at Acadiana Christian School this year. In addition to losing their coach, the Lady Bears also lost several key seniors, including standout Bri Sensley, who is now playing at Dillard University.

“We’ve lost a lot of players from last year, so this is a completely different team and we’re trying to start fresh,” Brooks explained. “I’m proud of them for stepping up. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores that stepped up in this game, and they’ve worked hard all summer long to get to where they are. I’m proud of them, they had some big shoes to fill but they’ve come a long way.”

Leading the attack for St. Martinville was junior Tyler Landry with 9 kills and 4 digs. Senior Amari Allen led the team in assists with 15. Brielle Casey (12 digs), Ambre Barras (1 assist, 6 digs) and Kamryn Gedward (4 digs, 1 ace) also contributed to the win.

Madison Boles ( 4 kills, 7 assists, 1 dig) and Kiara Comeaux (3 kills, 3 assists) provided a strong attacking threat for the Lady Bears.

Juniors Rylee Gutherie (11 digs) and Ava Armentor (1 kill, 6 assists) also contributed to Highland’s performance.

Catholic 3, Hanson Memorial 0

Catholic High also got their season started off the right way, picking up an impressive 3 set (25-7, 25-7, 25-11) win over Hanson Memorial on Monday.

Saniya Raheem led the Lady Panther offense with 9 kills, 1 assist, 2 aces and 3 digs. Madison Broussard (5 kills, 5 aces), Laura Lipari (11 assists, 5 aces, 1 dig), Reese Molbert (7 assists, 7 aces, 3 digs) Amelie Trappey (2 kills, 5 aces, 1 dig) and Anna Kate Minvielle (4 kills) also contributed to the win.

The Lady Panthers will return to action on Thursday when they travel to play North Vermilion.