Lady Tigers hope to make push for district

A perfect blend of injuries and inexperience stopped the Terrebonne volleyball team short of their biggest goals in Craig Hamner’s first season as head coach.

“It was a disappointing end when we lost in the first round of the playoffs,” Hamner said.

This year, the team’s aching muscles are rested and healthy. The team’s once youthful batch of underclassmen are now seasoned juniors and seniors.

The Lady Tigers are officially ready to try and re-establish themselves as the top team in the Tri-parish area.

After an up and down 2010 season, Terrebonne believes it is ready to build on last season in which the team shared the district title with H.L. Bourgeois.

With a slew of returnees, the Lady Tigers say they have a few ambitious goals that will govern their season.

“This year, our goal is to not share [district],” Terrebonne senior outside hitter Sabrina Bergeron said. “We want to win it by ourselves.”

“And make a run at state,” senior middle hitter Brook Fonseca added.

The biggest reason for optimism inside Terrebonne’s locker room is experience.

Last season, the Lady Tigers fielded a roster almost exclusively of players who had never played at the varsity level.

“We had just one returnee last year,” Hamner says quickly when asked. “Brooke Fonseca was the only one with experience.”

Because of that youth, Terrebonne had a few early bumps in the road in its quest to mesh into a championship-caliber team.

“Last year, everyone was still talking about all of the people we lost from the year before,” Bergeron said. “We struggled to make our own name for ourselves, especially early in the season.”

The Lady Tigers rebounded from their preseason struggles and rallied to beat H.L. Bourgeois on the road late in the season for a share of the district title.

Terrebonne’s lack of experience caught up to it just days later as the Lady Tigers were beaten in the playoffs.

But this year, it’s the exact opposite as Terrebonne returns virtually its entire starting lineup from last year’s sophomore and junior-laden group.

“This year, it’s different, because this year, we know we’re a good team,” Bergeron said.

Fonseca and Bergeron join fellow returning contributors like senior Allie Domangue and juniors Darian Dees and Kellie Scoby to turn last year’s rookies into this year’s veterans.

That difference between year 1 and year 2 for a varsity player is monumental, according to Hamner.

Using Dees as an example, the coach detailed the progress each player has made, saying for most of his team, it’s an “immense” level.

“Darian had to keep asking questions to understand things,” Hamner said. “The difference now is this year, she looks at me and she tells me what she did wrong when she makes a mistake because now she does understand. That whole year of experience for her and everyone else, it just helps them all understand the game a lot.”

Terrebonne’s players agree with the coach and say they are playing with more conviction because of last season’s growing pains.

“We’re much more confident about everything when we’re on the floor,” Bergeron said.

To test that newfound confidence, Hamner booked a challenging schedule for the Lady Tigers in his second season as head coach.

“I made it much tougher this year than last, knowing last year’s inexperience,” Hamner said. “I think because of that experience we now have, we can play this tougher schedule and still compete well.”

So far, so good, as Terrebonne has rolled to a 2-0 start to the season, earning a straight-sets win against Riverside Academy before beating Catholic of New Iberia in four sets.

“It was a good opening week,” Hamner said. “This schedule will make the girls play hard every game.”

When district rolls around the Lady Tigers will also see a few new faces as the LHSAA has added John Ehret and Higgins to District 5-1, while dropping South Lafourche.

Both schools are clubs who win “about 15 games or so” per year, according to Hamner.

“We really don’t know a whole lot about either team,” Hamner said. “The only thing I’ve kind of heard is they’re both very athletic. I’m not sure what to expect until I see them in person, though. … It ought to be fun.”

While all the experience and the tough schedule are factors, the biggest thing to determine Terrebonne’s 2011 fate will be health.

Last year, Lady Luck bit the joints and muscles of several Lady Tigers, most notably Fonseca, who was out of the lineup and not 100 percent for most of the year battling ankle injuries.

This year, Terrebonne’s big hitter believes she’s 100 percent.

“I feel great,” she said. “I’m fine and I’m good to go.”

Keeping her and her teammates that way will go a long way in getting the Lady Tigers back where they want to go.

“We need to stay healthy,” Hamner said. “If we stay healthy and we play well, we can win a lot of games. … So far, so good, everybody’s healthy.

“And from being injured last year and having other girls be forced to step up, we actually have a little depth now, so we’re excited. It should be a fun year. We’re all excited to see how it plays out.”

Terrebonne volleyball senior Brooke Fonseca blocks a ball during a game last season. Fonseca is one of many Lady Tigers returnees, which has the team wishing big in 2011. CASEY GISCLAIR