Berwick falls to St. Louis

Berwick just couldn’t get enough breaks in its match against No. 6 seed St. Louis Catholic Monday as the Lady Panthers fell 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 20-25, 10-25).
“It is hard to put into words on how I feel after the tough loss (Monday),” Berwick coach Heather Blanchard said. “The girls played great, but we just couldn’t get it to go our way.  We made some good runs; they just fought back and put the ball where we weren’t. They did a good job hitting our corners.”
Despite the lack of breaks, the Lady Panthers continued their solid serving as they only missed three serves out of 72 attempts, while their serve-receive, which Blanchard said had been a weakness for the squad this season, was good again like it had been against West Feliciana.
However, Blanchard said her squad had too many hitting errors.
“I’m really proud of how we competed (Monday),” she said. “It was an amazing atmosphere; the gym was packed.”  
Brie Hill led the Lady Panthers with three aces, 15 kills, three blocks and 32 digs, while Ashton Morales had an ace, a kill, 19 assists and seven digs.
Other top contributors included Hannah Carpenter, 25 digs; Diana Grace Guarisco, 19 digs; Abigail Askew, six kills, one block and three digs; and Rennen Delatte, six digs.
Monday’s game also was the last for the squad’s seniors, which include University of Louisiana at Lafayette commitment Hill, Guarisco, Maddie Gray and Lauran Delco.
“These seniors did (a) great job taking this program and turning it around,” Blanchard said. “They will be missed. Brie brought leadership and experience and had a great season. We look forward to watching her play in the (state’s East-West) all-star game next week and watching her play at ULL next year. Diana Grace stepped up and played all around for us this year when she had only played in the back row the past three years. Maddie Gray improved so much and gave us an outside hitter who was clutch. Lauran Delco was a true example of a selfless player and came into games to provide us a big block.”
However, Blanchard said the squad has a strong junior class.   
“We look forward to where we can go as a program. … This playoff loss gives us something to build on,” Blanchard said. “It can only get better from here.”
The Lady Panthers were led by several standouts this year including Hill, who led the squad with 367 kills and 80 blocks; Morales, who recorded 568 assists; and Carpenter, whose 55 aces and 585 digs were tops.
Hill will be signing with ULL Wednesday afternoon to continue her volleyball career on the collegiate level.