Southside pulls off dramatic marathon volleyball thriller over Lafayette High

When it comes to the postseason, coaches — regardless of the sport — often stress that seeding doesn’t matter once the game starts.

And knowing how close its regular-season matchup against Lafayette High was when the two volleyball teams met during district play, Southside entered Thursday’s Division I first-round matchup confident in its ability to compete.

The Sharks, a No. 20 seed, displayed the grit and resilience that has propelled them throughout the season as they upset the No. 13-seeded Lions in five sets 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 17-25 and 16-14.

“This was a true playoff game,” Sharks coach Julie Dawson said. “Unfortunately, it happened in the first round. This game should have been played at the Cajundome.”

“It’s never good when you look at the bracket and you see a district team,” Lions coach Caroline Dufrene said. “It’s hard to beat a team twice.”

After dropping the first set in which they continued to battle, the Sharks responded with back-to-back wins in sets 2 and 3.

“Our motto this season has been ‘Always grateful. Never satisfied,” Dawson said. “It's a mindset that has carried us through adversity. We are grateful for every opportunity to compete but never satisfied with where we are. We challenge ourselves to keep growing, keep fighting and keep believing, especially when the odds are against us. (Thursday), that mentality was the difference between simply competing and finding a way to win.”

With the win, the Sharks advance to the second round of the playoffs and will travel to face Chapelle at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

“This just builds our confidence,” Dawson said. “We’ve been struggling on and off all year long. We have finally found a connection and a lineup that works. Now, we can go into the next game knowing that we don’t have to figure out our lineup. We can come up with another game plan.”

The top performers for the Sharks (17-13) were Kelis Burgess, Natalie Hardin, Kyndal Crafton (four aces, seven kills, seven digs, block), Emma Borden (six kills, six digs, block), Brylee Slaughter, Ansly Suttles (19 assists, two aces, dig) and Odette Sanchez (29 assists, 12 digs).

Burgess finished with a match-high 20 kills, five blocks, and four digs, Hardin had nine kills, eight digs and one block, and Slaughter was outstanding at libero with 48 digs.

“I can’t say enough about my seniors who came out here and led this team,” Dawson said. “KK (Burgess) in the middle was our terminator, and she was not terminating with hard hits. She was being smart. Tipping it to the left and tipping it to the right. Getting us points when we needed it.”

For the Lions, Chloe Vice, Abby Menard, Ella Larpenteur, Avery Larpenteur, Alex Beairsto (four kills, four aces, nine digs, three blocks), Adeline Bobo (seven kills, two blocks, 13 digs) and Brae’ona Smith (15 digs) were the top performers.

Vice (11 kills, four blocks, seven digs), and Menard (11 kills, five blocks, 11 digs) combined for 22 kills, while Ella Larpenteur (eight kills, 25 assists, 19 digs) and Avery Larpenteur (seven kills, 23 assists, four aces, 25 digs) combined for 48 assists.

“It was kind of a high-error game for both sides,” Dufrene said. “I think we got a little too emotional, a little too in our heads and we started making mental errors that we hadn’t made before, and that hindered us.”

Southside pulls off dramatic marathon volleyball thriller over Lafayette High

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