The Prairieville High School volleyball team checked off one of its goals Wednesday night at East Ascension.
The Hurricanes defeated the Spartans 3-1 to finish off an undefeated run in District 5-I to earn the third-year program its first district championship. Individual set scores were 25-11, 20-25, 25-13 and 25-18.
“We’re pretty excited and pretty proud,” Prairieville coach Chandra Ewen said. “Most of the kids have been starters since our first year. They’ve been working their tails off, and this was our goal from the beginning. They knew what they had to do.”
Prairieville (26-8, 5-0) has been rated in the top 10 of the LHSAA power rankings most of the season. The Hurricanes were No. 7 before Wednesday night’s match and in position to host their first playoff game.
Against East Ascension (23-16, 2-3), Prairieville had to rally after the Spartans won the second set to tie the match. Prairieville won the third set 25-13, but had to battle in the fourth set.
East Ascension led in the early going, and trailed 16-15 when the Hurricanes took control for good. Two kills from Brasia Smith and another from Ally Guidry sparked a run in which Prairieville won seven of eight points. The Hurricanes finished off a 25-18 win in the set when Charli Secrist powered her spike through two EA blockers.
Smith led the Hurricanes with 11 kills while adding 21 digs. Also coming up with double-digit digs were libero Jayci Harvey (25), setter Haley Sears (16) and Kate Perniciaro (15), who finished with 10 kills. Sears made most of the key passes, and tallied 34 assists.
Prairieville opened the match by winning the first six points. The Hurricanes widened their lead to 18-6 before cruising to a 25-11 first set win.
East Ascension fell behind in 13-8 in the second set, but came back. Madison Duncan and Addyson Wheat each had two kills as the Spartans rallied to take a 23-20 lead. After a Prairieville hitting error, the Spartans closed out a 25-20 set win on Londyn Quinn’s kill.
It wasn’t enough to stop Prairieville, which righted itself and won the next two sets.
“I think our connection on and off the court made this happen,” Smith said. “We talk to each other and communicate on the court. It was not easy.”
Perniciaro, a junior outside hitter, also credited the Hurricanes teamwork and preparation.
“Its very exciting because this is our third season,” Perniciaro said. “Every game we’ve been getting closer and closer to our goal. We’ve worked hard this season, and we all wanted this really bad. That made a difference.”
The Hurricanes had extra motivation after losing in the first round of the Division I playoffs last season as the No. 32 seed.
“Clearly, we’re seeing the development in the program,” Ewen said. “These girls are just fighters. We have some tough matches coming up this weekend. I’d love to (win those) and move into the top five, but we’re not 32 so we’ll take it.”
