Ascension Catholic volleyball queens of district
The Ascension Catholic volleyball team was presented with the Capital City Board of Volleyball Officials (CCBVO) 2014 Division V Sportsmanship Award, celebrated senior night, and most of all won the District 3, Division V title all last week. One might say that could have been the best week in the program’s history.
To start this week, Monday, the LHSAA announced the team earned a no. 7 seed in the Division V playoffs and will have a bye week in the opening round of the playoffs. The Lady Bulldogs will play the winner of no. 23 West St. John and no. 10 Central Catholic on Monday, Nov. 10.
Thursday, the Lady Bulldogs had to break a three-way tie for the District 3-V title at the Team Sportsplex in Baton Rouge. Michayla Spano led with 12 assists and Rae’Shaun Malancon added 10 kills to lead the Bulldogs to a 2-0 win over Catholic of Pointe Coupee in the championship match, after beating St. John 2-1 just before.
As far as the sportsmanship award goes, the LHSAA introduced the new program to be presented to not only the coaches, players and managers, but also for the cheerleaders, fans, parents and school administrators for demonstration of fair play, following the rules of the game, respect of the judgment of the referees, and treating opponents with respect.
The LHSAA asked seven state associations to nominate one team for the award and an overall winner will be selected from that group. This year, the CCBVO nominated Woodlawn High, however because it represents 49 area schools – the largest in the state – it felt it was too hard to choose one team out of the all 49. So it decided to choose one team from each division, then the names of five divisional winners went on – Woodlawn. However, 2014 CCBVO Sportsmanship Division V winner was presented to Ascension Catholic High School.
After the loss against Catholic of Pointe Coupee, head coach Chandra Ewen said how could you not be proud of that.
“It recognizes our program as well as our student body, our fans, and we’ve always said we have respectful fans,” Ewen said about the award. “I’m very adamant with my players that they don’t question officials that their decision is theirs. It being the first year offered and to be considered was really a high honor. I’m proud.”
Senior night was celebrated during the Catholic of Pointe Coupee game and senior Amber Blanchard and Emily Villa were recognizes before the game started.
Ewen on the two seniors: “If you have ever coached, these are the two young ladies you want to coach. There has never been a moment when I’ve asked them to do something and they’ve not jumped whole-heartedly to do it. I’ve seen them go through struggles physically and athletically. They are phenomenal young ladies and you can’t ask for better.”
