Houma Christian rallies to top CCHS

It was as if the teams flipped jerseys.
Central Catholic, who made plays at the end of game one and mistakes by Houma Christian at the conclusion of game two to pull away from close games, found itself playing catch-up in games three and four, while they couldn’t complete the comeback in game five to fall 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 15-25, 12-15).
In addition to avoiding an upset bid by Central Catholic, ranked No. 14 in the latest Louisiana High School Athletic Association Power Rankings, No. 6 Houma Christian opened District 6-V play with a win.
“I’m really proud of those girls,” Houma Christian coach Samantha Ordoyne said. “They came down from two losses and then coming back and played strong. They didn’t give up. They really started to play smart and find the holes, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Central Catholic coach Latashia Wise said that Houma Christian didn’t make the same errors in the last three games that they made at the beginning.
“We got an early start because they made some errors in the first and second set,” Wise said. “It’s no secret that they made some errors. They made a lot of errors that they didn’t make in the third and fourth and fifth set. They got the momentum. That’s not a team that you can let get the momentum on you because it don’t stop. It rolls and rolls and rolls.”
Thursday’s contest also was the Lady Eagles’ Pink Game. A check presentation was made to Debbie Acosta of Oncologics before the game for $2,082, which will be used by St. Mary Parish Louisiana Foundation for Cancer Care/Oncologics and Miles Perret Cancer Services.
Money from T-shirt sales, which totaled more than $330, as well as luminaries and concessions were donated. Nineteen sponsorships secured by volleyball players also were included in the donation. The money will be used to help those in St. Mary Parish battling breast cancer.
Cancer survivors Colleen Keller, Shari Brown and Jolene Holt were honored before the varsity game. Brown and Holt each participated in honorary first serves.
Kerrilyn Luc, Brooke Lipari and Bailee Lipari were recognized for selling the most sponsorships, while Brooke Lipari sold the most T-shirts.
“I love fighting for the cause,” Wise said of holding the Pink Game. “I think that it’s a very good deal when two schools can come together. We have a relationship with Houma Christian, and we can all come together, combine and have people from the community that come back here who are cancer survivors … or either had a kid in Central (or) just in the Tri-Parish community come in and serve the ball for us. I think that is good. The girls like to see that. It brings a good vibe to the game.”
As for the match, things started out close in game 1 with Houma Christian leading by no more than three points throughout much of the game, although Central Catholic tied it several times.
However, Central Catholic tied the game at 19 on a kill by Hallie Autin and took the lead for good on another kill.
The Lady Eagles then rattled off the next five points with a kill by Quincee Wiggins from the back row, consecutive aces by Brooke Lipari, a net error by Houma Christian’s Dalesia Williams and an Autin kill.
Autin led the Lady Eagles with 12 kills in the loss.
Game 2 was much like the first, but following a Central Catholic timeout with the Lady Eagles trailing 17-15, the squad outscored Houma Christian 10-2 the remainder of the way using multiple hitting errors by Houma Christian as well as kills and an ace to secure the 25-19 win.
Then, that’s where things changed and Houma Christian seized the momentum.
“At the beginning, I told them, the other team, they were playing smart, they were finding the open holes, and that’s what we needed to be doing,” Ordoyne said. “Of course, it took two games for them to come back and do it, but they did it.”
In game 3, Houma Christian did not let Central Catholic back in game 3, taking as much as a 16-7 lead on a Central Catholic net error, and while Central Catholic cut its deficit to 24-18 on a kill by Yani Johnson, Houma Christian concluded it with a kill by Alicia Johnson.
Alicia Johnson had 14 kills, nine digs and two solo blocks, while Yani Johnson had 10 kills and six blocks.
Game four started with three consecutive kills by Dionjhae Thomas, the last one on a ball near the net after a bad pass by Central Catholic.
Dionjhae Thomas had 32 kills, one ace, nine digs, one solo block in the win.
After Central Catholic cut its deficit to 6-4 on a kill by Quincee Wiggins, Houma Christian began to pull away, taking control on offense and defense, and Central Catholic became error prone. Houma Christian took as much as a nine-point lead on two occasions, the last at 24-15 on a service error by Katie Hoffpauir, before pulling out the win a point later on an ace.
Game 5 started as if it would be a blowout as Central Catholic again was plagued by errors and Houma Christian took a 10-2 lead on a hitting error by Wiggins.
However, Central Catholic rallied to cut its deficit to as little as 12-11 on a kill by Hanna McCue.
Houma Christian responded by rattling off three of the next four points, ending the game on a kill.
Other top contributors for Houma Christian included Cameron Beal, 23 digs; Jordan Moore, 19 assists and 11 digs; Isabella Carroll, one kill, five aces and 10 digs; and Madelyn Carlos, one kill, nine assists and 10 digs.
Other top contributors for Central Catholic included Wiggins, 11 kills; Hoffpauir, 16 assists and three aces; Taylor Picou, 11 assists; and Sydney Williams, four blocks.
“The game went just like I thought it was. … Obviously I didn’t think we were going to lose, but I think that the effort on both sides went the same way it did last year,” Wise said.
Last year, both games went five apiece.
“It was a good match," Wise said. "I’m expecting another good match from both of the teams when we go play them over there.”