Lady Eagles win in five games; clinch a share of district crown

Central Catholic clinched a share of the District 6-V title Tuesday with a 3-2 (25-14, 25-13, 19-25, 24-26, 15-11) win against Houma Christian.
The win in the back-and forth contest kept the Lady Eagles perfect in district at 4-0 and within one victory of earning an outright title. The
Lady Eagles can achieve that feat Thursday with a win at Covenant Christian.
“I knew that Houma Christian was going to come here and let this be the deciding factor on district,” Central Catholic coach Latashia Wise said. “I knew it. … Houma Christian’s a very good team, very athletic.”
In the first matchup between the Lady Eagles, ranked No. 11 in the latest unofficial Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings, and No. 5
ranked Houma Christian, Central Catholic earned a win in five sets against the Warriors.
While the Lady Eagles won the first two games of the match Tuesday, Houma Christian rallied with consecutive wins in games 3 and 4 to force a deciding fifth game.
“I think starting the game off, winning the first two (games), I think my team got kind of complacent,” Wise said, explaining the team thought the match would end in three games.
However, she warned them beforehand that they had to finish the match and play strong.
Tuesday’s game also served as the Lady Eagles’ Pink Game.
An honorary server on Tuesday was Donna Vorenkamp, who has been free of cancer for eight years, Wise said.
On the court, Kaitlyn Gros led the Lady Eagles with nine kills, 25 assists, three aces and nine digs, while Hallie Autin had 11 kills and two blocks, and
Brittany Longman, 10 kills and six digs.
Other top contributors included Emma Aucoin, two aces and 11 digs; Quincee Wiggins, six kills; Rebecca David, four blocks; and Taylor Picou, six digs.
Dionjhae Thomas led Houma Christian with 20 kills and five aces, while Alicia Johnson had 18 kills and five aces and Hannah Naquin, 22 assists and eight digs.
Other top contributors for the Warriors included Madelyn Carlos, 14 assists and five digs; Amy Bonvillain, six kills and 11 digs; and Cameron Beal, 14 digs.
Central Catholic, who can earn an outright title with a win Thursday at Covenant Christian, has gone through a rebuilding year this season.
Asked how rewarding it was for her and her seniors to get at least a share of the title and so close to winning it outright, Wise said, “Rewarding is not the word that I want to use. Gratifying. It’s been so gratifying to coach this team this year. … If there’s ever a team I coached that I can say showed the most perseverance, the most improvement, (it would) have to be this year’s team.”