Lady Eagles drop Ascenion Catholic, Catholic-PC to open District 3-V play
PETER SILAS PASQUA
ppasqua@postsouth.com
PLAQUEMINE - St. John the Evangelist High School opened District 3-V play with victories over Ascension Catholic 25-21, 25-12, 20-25, 21-25, 15-2 on Wednesday and Catholic-Pointe Coupee 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 on Monday.
The Lady Eagles (17-6, 2-0), under coach Chase Mancuso, also defeated Baton Rouge 25-21, 25-17, West Feliciana 25-5, 25-13 and Walker 25-6, 16-25 in a tournament at Woodlawn of Baton Rouge this weekend before falling to Isidore Newman 19-25, 17-25 and East Ascension 25-20, 25-20, 25-21.
"We've really started to play well the last couple of weeks," Mancuso said. "We have started to be a little more consistent and the players are starting to gel together and understand what they need to do for this team to be successful.
"Im extremely proud of the way this team fights. Even when we are not playing our best they will fight to keep the ball off the floor and make it hard on the other team. They know I will not let up at practices and have continued to push them to get better everyday. This group is determined to advance in the state tournament and they have responded and bought in to what we are trying to accomplish."
The Lady Eagle had five players with five or more kills against Ascension Catholic. Payton Passantino had 10 kills, Victoria Weaver nine, Keri Yarbrough eight and five blocks, Emily Delahaye six and seven blocks and Kaycee Keller five and two blocks and three aces. Claire Pearce had 32 assists and nine digs.
Delahaye had nine kills against Catholic-Pointe Coupee. Weaver added eight kills and three aces, while Passantino had six kills and five digs, Pearce 26 assists and three aces and Smith 10 digs.
"I had some concerns coming into this season about several positions and if we would be able to effectively replace some very good players," Mancuso said. "I think we are better than last year's team but we still have not shown how good we can and should be. We have to learn how to step up on gameday and bring our best when we play high-level competition."