South Lafourche hopes to reach playoffs for first time ever

South Lafourche High School has a rich athletic tradition.

From football and basketball state championships all the way to individual track and field state titles, the Tarpons’ sporting programs have virtually done it all in the school’s 40-plus year history.

Except for volleyball.

That program has had very modest success and has never made the postseason in the school’s history.

Flipping that trend upside down is a big focus of the Lady Tarpons with district play nearing.

With a solid core group of players and a brand new district, South Lafourche coach Lonnie Rousse believes it’s not too farfetched to think this year might be the year his team breaks through and advances to postseason play.

“I’d love to be able to hang a banner in our gym that says district champs for volleyball,” he said. “We’ve never achieved that yet as a school.”

It’s obvious South Lafourche has good athletes roaming its halls, or the school’s other athletic programs would suffer, as well.

So why has volleyball never taken on firm footing along the marshes of Tarponville?

One reason is simple: youth leagues, South Lafourche children have none.

Prestigious local programs like Vandebilt, H.L. Bourgeois and Terrebonne pool from children who grow up playing for the Bayou Bandits or other organized Houma and Thibodaux-based youth leagues.

South Lafourche children don’t have anything but more loosely structured recreational leagues, thus putting the future Tarpons at a disadvantage.

“If we had that youth league, that’s always a help to a program,” Rousse said. “The closest thing we have down here is a couple of our religious organizations will do volleyball as a recreational sport. But it’s intramural and because it’s intramural, it’s not the same competition level as the young ladies experience when it’s played at the high school level.”

But even with a huge experience gap, Rousse said another factor prohibits the Lady Tarpons from succeeding, attitude.

South Lafourche is a very heavy football, basketball and baseball community, so much so that every other sport sometimes fails to gain a “varsity” status among local children, according to the coach.

Because of that long-time “b-team” distinction, the school has had problems in the past getting its best athletes to join the volleyball squad.

“The general consensus among the community is that volleyball hasn’t been looked at as seriously as the contact sports,” Rousse said. “Football has a large following and volleyball has a loyal following. But when we think volleyball, a lot of us think what we see on ESPN with beach volleyball. … People see it here more as a recreation and not as a true sport.”

With the challenges in his line of sight, Rousse took the job as the Lady Tarpons’ coach prior to last season after previously serving as an assistant coach.

After a few years of infusing his ways into the team, he believes he finally has the right formula in place to turn the program around.

He also believes he has the players to compete with anyone in the area.

“We have a solid roster,” Rousse said. “We have a lot of kids who are able to contribute to our team.”

One of those players is Alyssa Callais, whom Rousse described as one of the Lady Tarpons’ primary leaders.

“She’s got the ability to be a great all-purpose player,” he said. “But off the floor, she’s got the spirit to be able to rally a team.”

On the front line, South Lafourche also has a handful of big hitters like Darian LeBlanc and Christa Moliniare.

Setting the ball up for the team’s big hitters will be Jacey Callais and Marissa Melancon, who are among the team’s primary setters.

“We have what could be a pretty powerful and efficient offense,” Rousse said.

The district the Lady Tarpons’ standouts will face is different in the new season.

South Lafourche has been dropped down from Division 1 to Division 2 in volleyball, which shifts the team from its historic district with Central Lafourche, H.L. Bourgeois, Terrebonne and Thibodaux to another district with Assumption, Ellender, Morgan City and South Terrebonne.

Of that group, only Assumption is historically a power.

In the Division 1 district, H.L. Bourgeois, Terrebonne and Thibodaux are all annual contenders.

Rousse stopped short of saying the Lady Tarpons’ path is easier now that the team is in Division 2. But he did admit that South Lafourche’s new district race will be far more open than it’s been in previous years.

“It will be a more closely competitive district as far as the teams and the matchups,” the coach said. “It’s a better balanced district. … That’s good for us.”

But whether the Lady Tarpons play in Division 1, Division 2 or anywhere else, Rousse’s goal remains the same, to lead his team to the playoffs.

To get there, Rousse said his team will need to be more authoritative and less timid on the floor.

“Communication needs to improve among the girls,” he said. “They are quiet. I have a quiet bunch of girls. They need to be more ready to speak out, more ready to reach out and take control. … That’s probably our next step in our program’s development.”

If they do that, the banner just might fly for the first time ever in Galliano.

Rousse said he won’t stop pushing until it happens.

“I plan to be here until they tell me I’m no longer welcome,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll get that banner and put it up there someday if it’s not this year. It’ll happen. We’ll get there.”

South Lafourche volleyball coach Lonnie Rousse talks to his team during a timeout in last week’s match against Central Lafourche. Rousse and his Lady Tarpons are trying to reach the playoffs for the first time in program history this season. CASEY GISLCAIR