Volleyball stars from west bank make all-district

It was another tremendous volleyball season in Ascension Parish, and that was certainly true for the two schools in Donaldsonville.

Those two west-bank teams both made the postseason and saw some special performances by its players along the way.

As a result, each team was represented on their respective all-district volleyball teams.

Ascension Catholic had the most successful season in Donaldsonville. The Lady Bulldogs had to go through another coaching change during the offseason, but they transitioned quite nicely.

After serving as the head coach for one season, Alaina Poirrier made her departure. In her place came Janelle Leonard.

Ascension Catholic got the season off to a rocky start as they tried to navigate their way through a challenging schedule that featured opponents like Assumption, Sam Houston, Parkview Baptist, University and Denham Springs.

The Lady Bulldogs fell into a 4-12 hole to start the year.

However, once they hit the midway point of the season, they began to flourish.

In their final 15 matches, they went 11-4, which included a perfect 8-0 stretch in district play. This netted them a league championship.

They headed into the Division-V playoffs winners of five straight matches, which earned them the No. 12 seeding.

The Lady Bulldogs hosted No. 21 Northside Christian in the opening round and swept them by scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-15.

They then traveled to face fifth-seeded Dunham in the second round. Ascension Catholic took the first set, but the Lady Tigers responded by winning the next three and punching their ticket to the state tournament.

In her first season as the Ascension Catholic head coach, Leonard was named the Division IV, District 3 Coach of the Year.

Five of her players made the All-District 3 team.

Most notably, junior Catherine Rome not only made the first team, but she was named the district's MVP.

Joining her on the first-team squad were a pair of seniors in Isabelle Abadie and Lauren Landry.

The Lady Bulldogs had two second-team selections. They were seniors Catherine Villa and Emme Medine.

The Donaldsonville Lady Tigers had a season similar to that of the Lady Bulldogs.

They got off to a rocky start, falling to just 2-6. However, they finished strong.

Donaldsonville won their final three matches of the regular season and finished with a district record of 3-2.

The Lady Tigers squeezed into the Division-IV playoffs as the No. 29 seed. It drew them a very tough opening-round matchup against fourth-seeded Pope John Paul II, an eventual state semifinalist.

Donaldsonville was swept in three sets.

They had one of their players make the All-District 3 team. That distinction went to Quinntryce Bell.