Pink Marathon

The Morgan City Lady Tigers took the Berwick Lady Panthers to five games and tried to stage a late-game rally in the final set, but Berwick prevailed 3-2 (25-16, 15-25, 25-14, 20-25, 15-12).
The District 6-III contest between the two schools also served as Morgan City’s annual “Paint the Pit Pink Game.”
While the day was filled with lots of pink, symbolic of breast cancer, along with many accompanying activities that raised money to fight the disease, both teams waged a see-saw battle.
In the first game, Berwick won 25-16.
However, Morgan City came back to take game two, 25-15.
Not to be denied, Berwick came back with a 25-14 win in game three before Morgan City won game 4, 25-20, to set up a deciding fifth game.
While Berwick took as much as a 13-7 lead in game five, Morgan City stormed back to cut its deficit to 13-12.
However, Berwick took the next two points to win the match.
“It was a hard-fought game by both teams along with amazing effort, and we just pulled it out,” Berwick head coach Heather Blanchard said.
Berwick finished the match with eight aces, 37 kills, six blocks and 78 digs.
Ashton Morales led the Lady Panthers with one ace, 12 kills, three blocks, 10 assists and 13 digs, while Abigail Askew had 11 kills, two blocks and four digs.
Other top contributors included Sydney Aucoin, 10 kills, two assists and four digs; Hannah Carpenter, two aces, one kill, one assist and 24 digs; Mary Jordan Melancon, two aces, one block, nine assists and four digs; Jordan Lipari, three aces, two kills and eight digs; Madeleine Hover, one kill, eight assists and five digs; Rennen DeLatte, eight digs; and Roslyn Gros, seven digs.
Blanchard said she was proud of her younger players and how they are playing.
“What you’re seeing right now is you’re seeing them grow up,” Blanchard said. “This is their first year of varsity experience. They’ve been through almost a whole season and now they’re ready. I’m proud of all those younger ones and they’re feeding off the seniors and juniors.”
Morgan City had 14 aces, 37 kills, six blocks and 111 digs as a team in the win.
Jaiveianna Jones led Morgan City with two aces, 23 kills, five blocks and 19 digs.
Other top contributors included Kennedy Hebert, three aces, three kills, one assist and 26 digs; Karley Guidry, three aces, one kill, 11 assists and 16 digs; Brandi Ingram, 27 digs; Cecily Feliciano, three aces, five kills, 16 assists and eight digs; Alex Thompson, one ace, two kills and six digs; and Allie Vincent, one ace, one kill, one block and three digs.
Morgan City head coach Christy Theriot said her team had too many errors in the contest.
“We made too many mistakes. … I think they both played well,” she said. “I think we made too many mistakes.”
Still, Theriot said she thought the effort and intensity her squad showed was much better than a 3-0 defeat at Berwick nearly a week earlier.
“We didn’t just roll over in three,” she said of Monday night’s performance.
Prior to Monday’s varsity game, a representative from each team who has battled cancer were the team’s honorary servers. For Berwick, Rose Koen, who has been cancer free for 34 years, according to Blanchard, is the grandmother of Berwick freshman Cate Koen.
Sonia Clements, a teacher at Morgan City High School, was Morgan City High School’s honorary server. She said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in August.
In junior varsity action, Morgan City fell 2-0 (12-25, 23-25).
Abby Reynaud led Morgan City with one ace, five kills and three digs.
Other top contributors included Vincent, two aces, one assist and three digs; Brandi Albarado, seven digs; Katelyn Gautreaux, six digs; Emily Boudreaux, five digs; and Kaitlyn Gros, two aces and two digs.
In freshman action, Morgan City won 3-0 (27-25, 11-25, 15-11).
Morgan City had 13 aces in the win, led by six from Alisha Singleton. Singleton also had seven digs.
Vincent led the Lady Tigers with one ace, six kills, one block and 10 digs, while Scottie Metrejean had two aces, one assist and nine digs.
Other top contributors included Matti Rivere, one ace, one kill and six digs; Abigail Landry, two aces, three assists and two digs; and Gabrielle Guarisco, four assists.
Morgan City (10-17, 3-4) will hit the road when it faces E.D. White, also in district action. E.D. White is No. 7 in the latest Division III power rankings, while Morgan City is ranked No. 17.
Berwick (18-13 overall, 5-2 district) will return to district action today when it travels to face Lutcher. Berwick is ranked No. 11 in Division III in the latest unofficial Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings, while Lutcher is ranked No. 3.