Lady Panthers will travel to No. 6 St. Louis

Berwick High School coach Heather Blanchard said following her squad’s bi-district win against West Feliciana that her 11th ranked squad’s second round opponent, No. 6 seed St. Louis, had a solid volleyball tradition.

A quick look at the school’s volleyball page shows she was on the money.

The Lake Charles-based squad has won its district’s last 18 titles, had been to the quarterfinals 10 times in the past 20 years and has been to the state semifinals in three out of the past four years, including a runner-up finish in 2011.

Today, the Lady Panthers will try to put a dent in that tradition when Berwick makes the trip to Lake Charles for a 5:30 p.m. contest.

Blanchard said her team is ready for their regional opponent, one she said they are evenly matched against.

Berwick (20-16) enters the match following a 25-15, 25-13, 25-11 win against West Feliciana on Wednesday.

Berwick head coach Heather Blanchard said St. Louis (23-9) has experience and a lot of height.

“We will have to cover well and cut down on unforced errors,” Blanchard said. “We will have to play great defense against their big hitters and take advantages of their weaknesses.”
Blanchard also said keeping the solid serving up like they had in their first-round win against West Feliciana, where the Lady Panthers missed just two serves in the bi-district contest, could enable the Lady Panthers to put pressure on St. Louis.

“We know they run a quicker offense with one setter,” Blanchard said. “If we can take her out of the game and force them into unbalanced situations, we should be successful.”
In their bi-district contest, Berwick was led by Brie Hill, who had one ace, 14 kills, three blocks, one assist and 11 digs.

Other top contributors included Abigail Askew, nine kills; Diana Grace Guarisco, three kills, one assist and six digs; Ashton Morales, five kills, 19 assists and seven digs; Hannah Carpenter, one ace and nine kills; and Rennen Delatte, seven digs.

Berwick and St. Louis both have four opponents in common in Breaux Bridge, Chalmette, New Iberia and Berwick’s district opponent, E.D. White.

While Breaux Bridge and Chalmette defeated Berwick, they both fell to St. Louis. St. Louis also defeated Division 4’s top squad, Notre Dame.

Like Berwick, St. Louis also fell to E.D. White, while Berwick defeated New Iberia, who defeated St. Louis this season.