The Calvary Lady Cavaliers made history on Friday afternoon as the first team from North Louisiana Team to qualify to compete in the LHSAA State Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Cavs knocked off No. 13 Riverside Academy Patriots in straight sets 25-19, 25-17, 25-14.
“At the beginning of the season our team discussed goals, this was the big one..” said Coach Jon Casey. “We wanted to be the 1st team ever from North Louisiana to be at the State Tournament. We are honored to represent all of the wonderful teams and coaches up here. The Lady Cavs embraced that goal this season and it was preached at practices and games about play and mindset. They were selfless in their work. The group of seniors was key to our success and it was so fun to watch them contribute last night. The final 3 touches of the game were 3 seniors. They had a great night and each contributed in unique ways; from Alex Parker driving the ball straight down, to Melanie Willis and Taylor Darner making a wall that forced a different offense, to Ella Robbins being clutch in offense, and Natalie Pierce setting it up for the kills, and finally Rayne Locke having the last dig of the night that set up the game-winning kill…what a group!!! AND…the junior classmen coming up is pretty fun to watch as well.
I want to send a huge shout-out to all of the area volleyball HS and travel/club teams. Because of all of the hard work and effort by the HS coaches and the area club coaches and the athletes, we are seeing North Louisiana volleyball improve drastically. I anticipate even more teams from the North to be down at the tournament in the near future.
As far as the state goes, I know we are all excited to see what the Lord has for us on Thursday at the tournament. Win or lose, what a year, what a blessing this has been. We thank God for this. The Bible says all good things come from the Lord and we give God the credit and we remember to thank Him every single game for His Son Jesus who died for us all so we could be with the Father one day.”
First set the two teams exchanged points staying tied until 7-7. Riverside bumped the lead to 10-7. Calvary called timeout and took back the serve on the first play after the timeout with a kill by Kiya Casey. Calvary closed in within 10-9. The Patriots went on another run to 14-9. Alex Parker stopped the slide with a slam to middle court. Another score by Riverside stopped the momentum. Calvary chipped away t the lead at 15-13. Riverside pushed to 16-13. Calvary finally caught the Patriots at 17-17 with a kill to the backline that was returned out of bounds. Calvary took the lead at 19-18 with Harper Cauley’s tap over the net blockers. Riverside called timeout. Calvary burst to a 22-18 lead. Riverside scored on a net violation to 22-19. Calvary rolled out three more points to take the first set.
Calvary carried the momentum into the second set as they started with a 5-1 lead. Riverside closed the gap to 5-3. Calvary took back and jumped up to an 8-3 lead. Riverside called timeout. Calvary pushed to an 11-4 lead before Riverside got the serve back. Riverside closed in to 14-9. Calvary looked to be starting another roll at 16-12. Riverside called timeout again. Calvary continued to push the lead to 20-13. A tipped return out of bounds gave Riverside the serve at 20-14. Lady Cavs got the back on a net slam hit out past the backline. Calvary score came back with a 23-15 lead. Riverside are efforts to catch the Lady Cavs but couldn’t. Calvary had taken game two of the match.
The two teams stayed close throughout the third set with no more than a two-point advantage to 6-6. Calvary went a four-point run to push to 10-6 and Riverside tried to stop the momentum with a timeout. After the time out, Riverside returned out of bound and a kill pushed the lead to six at 12-6 before regaining the serve. Riverside did not score off their serve. Calvary rattled off an ace and two more points to push to 15-7. Calvary had been on a 9-1 run. Riverside made a small comeback putting three up and closing the gap to 16-12. The two traded points for a couple of rounds. Alex Parker’s serve set caused another run for the Lady Cavs. Casey’s slam from the side followed by Darner’s block pushed Calvary to 21-13. A net serve by Parker gave the serve back at 21-14 to Riverside. Riverside’s return on a hit went out of bounds to give Natalie Pierce the serve. Calvary scored the final three points to seal their trip to Lafayette.
Kiya Casey led with 11 kills and 12 digs. Alex Parker collected 10 kills, led the team with 3 aces and a block. Harper Cauley had 5 kills and 7 digs. Melanie Willis and Ella Robbins also had 5 kills. McCaughli Hall-Wilson kept the play going with 13 assists and 7 digs. Natalie Pierce helped with 5 assists. Caroline Christler had 6 digs
The Lady Cavaliers will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the Cajundome at 2:30
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