Lady Tigers roll toward playoffs

The Terrebonne Lady Tigers are going into the state playoffs on a roll. First they claimed a district title, and this week they recorded victories of Catholic of New Iberia and E.D. White.

The Lady Tigers beat E.D. White 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-21, last Thursday night in Thibodaux. Terrebonne opens its playoff schedule against H.L. Bourgeois on Monday night.

For E.D. White, it was the end of a week that pitted it against two of the top volleyball programs in the area – Assumption and Terrebonne. While the Lady Cardinals lost both games, head coach Mary Cavell said the opponents provided the type of preparation her team needed as it heads to its Monday night playoff opener against West Feliciana.

“This week we wanted two competitive teams,” she said. “We had Assumption on Tuesday and then Terrebonne, today. You couldn’t ask for two better, more competitive ball clubs to get you ready for the playoffs.”

While E.D. White got off to the quick start, winning the opening game 25-21, Terrebonne rebounded to win the next three and take the match. The Lady Tigers controlled the second game, but pulled out close games in the third and fourth games.

“We’ve talked about that,” said coach Chip Didier. “Playing at crunch time. That’s the time you’ve got to step up. The score is 20-20, people have got to step up and make big plays, and we did on defense and serving. And then our offense kicked in.”

In the two team’s final playoff preparations, both coaches found things they want to see improved for Monday’s matches. “There were too many times that we had the momentum, and we just let it slip away because of our own mistakes,” said Cavell of her Lady Cardinals. “We can’t have that in the playoffs. We need to eliminate the unforced errors to be able to do well in the playoffs.”

Didier was most pleased with his team’s bench play. “A few players are struggling, but we had subs go in,” he said. “And that’s one thing that we’ve had this year – a real strong bench. That really helps you when you have players that are struggling. The (subs) go in and they do their job.”

The Lady Tigers will need all of their players to perform when the play H.L. Bourgeois for the fifth time this season, on Monday. Terrebonne has won the previous four games this season, but is looking at Monday’s match as a new start. “We’re approaching it as one match. We don’t even worry about the other matches. Those are gone. We’re focusing on one match, and that’s it.”

Meanwhile, E.D. White will be facing West Feliciana for the first time this season. “I’ll talk to some coaches in the next couple of days,” Cavell said. “They were the best third-place team in a good, competitive district.”

Terrebonne plays H.L. Bourgeois at 4 p.m. at its home gym, while E.D. White plays at 6 p.m. in Thibodaux.