North Vermilion Lady Patriots down VC in volleyball

The North Vermilion Lady Patriots headed south down 167 Thursday night and scored a four-set victory over the Vermilion Catholic Lady Eagles at Kim Guidry Gym, 20-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-18.
The gym was packed, and the intensity was high as the two rivals took the court. NV head coach Ashly Boudreaux thought playing against familiar faces gave her team a boost.
“They all know each other,” Boudreaux said. “They play other sports together and they’re friends. I have two nieces (Anna and Audrey Boudreaux) on the other side of the net. I told them we’re not friends right now. We can be friends after. It was really competitive and fun.”
Coming into the game, Boudreaux remembered the trouble the lower ceiling in the VC gym gave her team last year. She prepared them for it this year.
“We killed ourselves making sure we didn’t hit it in the roof,” Boudreaux said. “We have PTSD from last year. It’s a real thing.”
The Lady Eagles (6-5) jumped ahead 10-4 in the opening set while NV struggled to find its serve. The Lady Pats got as close as three before VC won the set by five.
“We did not serve well tonight,” Boudreaux said. “We had 27 missed serves. That’s hard to overcome.”
The Lady Pats (4-3) jumped ahead 3-0 in the second set before VC went on an 8-1 run to claim the early four-point lead, 8-4. NV then went on a 14-3 run to take control of the set at 18-11. They went on to win it by 10 and tie the match at 1-1.
Stevie Brasseaux’s net play sparked the turnaround. The senior blocked several balls on her own and also teamed up with super sophomore Ashante Rose to double block a few more. Boudreaux was most impressed with the success Brasseaux had on the offensive end, especially with freshman setter Annalise Marix.
“What we needed was for the setters to start finding her,” Boudreaux said. “That chemistry is starting to happen. It’s taking a while to get that going, but they’re going to do great things.”
In the third set, NV jumped out to a 10-5 lead and never looked back. They extended the lead to 15-8 and 23-15 before winning the set by six and taking a 2-1 match lead.
NV jumped ahead 10-6 in the final set. They stretched the lead to 21-14 before winning the set by a touchdown and the match 3-1.
VC head coach Kristin Son thought the match came down to serving.
“Serving played a huge part in this game,” Son said. “They struggled with it early and we were able to take advantage.”
She also thought the Lady Pats’ offensive execution was something her team needed to witness.
“They have a lot of offense, and they run it quick,” Son continued. “My girls hadn’t seen that yet this year. I thought they handled it well, but they are a lot of areas we need to clean up.”
The Lady Pats host Iowa on Tuesday for their only game next week. The Lady Eagles travel to Eunice on Tuesday before hosting the Abbeville Lady Wildcats on Thursday.