After waiting over the weekend wondering who they would play in the Division I playoffs, the Sulphur Lady Tors learned Monday that they would be traveling to face St. Amant in the first round.
Sulphur received the No. 19 seed while St. Amant is seeded at No. 14.
“I felt pretty good about making it in,” Sulphur head coach Julie Mancuso said. “It is a better draw than last years draw.
“We will see what we can do as the No. 14 seed. I don’t think that it is going to be easy but we will see what happens.”
Six of the seven teams in the Sulphur’s district reached the playoffs. District runner-up Comeaux received the highest seed of any team in the district at No. 7. They will receive a first round by and will play the winner of the St. Scholastica/Zachary game. No. 16 New Iberia will travel to No. 17 H.L. Bourgeois and No. 9 Barbe will travel to No. 24 Grace King. Although Barbe and New Iberia are the higher seeds in their games, they will be on the road because H.L. Bourgeois and Grace King were runners-up in their districts. Division I District 1 champion Lafayette picked up the No. 11 seed and will host No. 22 Covington and No. 18 Carencro will travel to No. 15 Dutchtown.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Mancuso said when asked about so many teams in the district reaching the playoffs. “I think that is part of what helped us get in. To me the stronger the district the better.”
In the Division II playoffs, the Sam Houston Lady Broncos will host the McDonogh #35 Lady Roneagles in the first round.
The No. 9 Lady Broncos just missed a first round bye by one position in the rankings while going undefeated in district for the district title.
“The fact that we took in four losses this weekend probably eliminated us out of the top-eight,” said Sam Houston head coach Rene Fontenot. “I think we had got to that point before the Spooktacular tournament, which is one of the strongest tournaments in the state.”
The four games in the weekend tournament capped a week where Sam Houston played seven games, and Fontenot said that her team is happy to be resting up for Thursday’s bi-district game.
“We scaled back practice by nearly an hour today,” Fontenot said. “I think they welcome this kind of break because last week sent us into overload. They looked tired and unfocused and I think a part of it was the emotional rollercoaster of last week.
“Last weekend was a learning experience and hopefully we will pull together and push forward into the playoffs.”
One of the things that the Lady Broncos will look to improve on going into the postseason is dealing with the pressure of the moment.
“We talked about the pressure to perform and being in someone else’s gym and having to win to advance,” said Fontenot. “Rather than being scared of that aspect of the game, we need to embrace it as a catalyst for our team to really come together and perform well.”
McDonogh #35 ranks as the 24th team in the 24-team Division II bracket. Despite being the last team to make the playoffs, the Lady Broncos know that Lady Roneagles will still be a challenge.
“I think (McDonogh) being in the New Orleans area lends itself into a whole other scope of volleyball,” Fontenot said. “I think they (Sam Houston) realize that we can advance in these playoffs, even with these other strong programs in. We have seen what our division has to offer.”
Thursday’s game at Sam Houston High School has a probable start time of 5 p.m.
The Westlake Lady Rams will host No. 17 Crowley in the bi-district round of the Division III playoffs on Thursday.
No. 16 Westlake secured a playoff spot last Friday with a 3-1 win over Jennings in a game to decide the second place team in the district.
“I was kind of happy to get to play Jennings,” Lady Rams head coach Kelly Smith said. “They are in and ranked above myself and Crowley. It was nice to have that extra game against a quality hitting team and team that can also block cause that’s what we will see against Crowley.
“It helped us prepare.”
Smith said having the first round of the playoffs at home is a positive.
“The one thing I can say about my girls is that they don’t play very well on the road,” said Smith. “They like being home and they like a routine. If they are at home, they get that.”
Crowley comes out of a district that includes No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 12 Rayne, so the Lady Rams know that the Ladies will be a competitive team.
“They play in a tough district,” Smith explained. “We have St. Louis, but they have Notre Dame and Rayne who is also in. They come out of a very strong district so they are going to be competitive. We are going to have to play to win.
“I feel like we can compete with them and feel like it ought to be a good match.”
Thursday’s bi-district game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Westlake. The winner of the match will take on Notre Dame in Crowley at 5 p.m. on Monday in the regional round.
Division I
Bi-District pairings
No. 16 New Iberia @ No. 17 H.L. Bourgeois; No. 9 Barbe @ No. 24 Grace King; No. 21 Bonnabel @ No. 12 Destrehan; No. 20 Denham Springs @ No. 13 Slidell; No. 19 Sulphur @ No. 14 St. Amant; No. 22 Covington @ No. 11 Lafayette; No. 23 Zachary @ No. 10 St. Scholastica; No. 18 Carencro @ No. 15 Dutchtown.
Regional pairings
New Iberia/H.L. Bourgeois @ No. 1 St. Joseph’s; Barbe/Grace King @ No. 8 Archbishop Chapelle; Destrehan/Bonnabell @ No. 5 Terrebonne; Slidell/Denham Springs @ No. 4 Dominican; St. Amant/Sulphur @ No. 3 Fontainbleau; Lafayette/Covington @ No. 6 Mandeville; St. Scholastica/Zachary @ No. 7 Comeaux; Dutchtown/Carencro @ No. 2 Mt. Carmel.
Division II
Bi-District Pairings
No. 17 A.J. Ellender @ No. 16 Belle Chasse; No 24 McDonogh #35 @ No. 9 Sam Houston; No. 21 Westgate @ No. 12 Morgan City; No. 20 Leesville @ No. 13 Pearl River; No. 19 Woodlawn-BR @ No. 14 Glen Oaks; No 22 Edna Karr @ No. 11 Bradmoor; No. 23 E. Jefferson @ No. 10 O.P. Walker; No. 18 Northside @ No. 15 McKinley.
Regional Pairings
Belle Chasse/A.J. Ellender @ No. 1 St. Thomas More; Sam Houston/ McDonogh #35 @ Central-BR; Morgan City/ Westgate @ No. 5 Beau Bridge; Pearl River/Leesville @ No. 4 Cabrini; Glen Oaks/Woodlawn-BR @ No. 3 Chalmette; Broadmoor/Edna Karr @ Vandebilt Cath.; O.P. Walker/E. Jefferson @ No. 7 Live Oak; McKinley/Northside @ No. 2 Assumption.
Division III
Bi-District pairings
No. 17 Crowley @ No. 16 Westlake; No. 9 Parkview Baptist @ No. 27 Albany; No. 12 Rayne @ No. 21 Loranger; No. 20 Livonia @ No. 13 Riverdale; No. 19 Baker @ No. 14 Redemptorist; No 11 Teurlings Cath. @ No. 22 John McDonogh; No. 10 Ben Franklin @ No. 23 Sarah Reed; No 15 Jennings @ No. 18 Brusly.
Regional pairings
Westlake/Crowley @ No. 1 Notre Dame; Parkview Bapt./Albany @ No. 8 Lutcher; Rayne/Loranger @ No. 5 St. Michael’s; Riverdale/Livonia @ No. 4 E.D. White; Redemptorist/Baker @ No. 3 St. Louis Cath.; Teurlings Cath./John McDonogh @ No. 6 W. Feliciana; Ben Franklin/Sarah Reed @ No. 7 Cecilia; Jennings/Brusly @ No. 2 Ursluline.
Sulphur, La. —
