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Lady Falcons fall just short in five set match with Kenner Discvery.
Saint Thomas rebounds with sweep of Springfield.
by Jim Henderson
HAMMOND—The Saint Thomas Aquinas Lady Falcon Volleyball team dropped a 14-25, 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 14-16 five-set match to the Kenner Discovery Health & Science Academy Lady Gators in a non-district contest played at the STA gym. The Lady Falcond followed up rebounding against league rival Springfield getting the 3-0 sweep to improve to 8-4 on the season setting up a possible showdown with Doyle on September 30 for control of the District. BHowever, the Lady Falcons have a district match with Saint Helena before that on September 25 and must win to keep pace with Doyle.
“The Girls fought hard,” said STA coach Zhaniece Parker. “I’m proud of their effort and the way they battled tonight. It’s a tough loss especially knowing how much of a dominant force that Kenner DisDiscovery volleyball brought tonight. I give credit to our setter (Nora Faulk) for her decision making and just making sure that we’re getting the ball to our outside and middle hitters. I can tell that our composure held up throughout the five-sets and this will help us down the road.”
In the first game, the Lady Gators jumped out to a 12-5 lead. Taylor Litolff of Kenner Discovery led the surge firing three kills. Sofia Rico added a service ace and Chaela Alexander had a kill. St. Thomas had kills from Chloe Willia and Aubrey Alston to cut the deficit to 12-7. But the Lady Falcons could get no closer as Kenner Discovery went on a 13-7 run to seal the 25-14 win.
In the second game, the Lady Falcons had a better start with a 7-5 lead. Aubrey Speights led the surge with a pair of kills. A kill by Kayley Thompson at the net made it 15-9 before Kenner Discovery began to make a comeback. Speights fired a pair of kills and Thompson had a tip at the net to make it 22-20. A kill by Alson gave STA a 24-20 advantage. Kenner Discovery cut it to 24-22 with a pair of kills by Alexander. A service error by the Lady Gators secured the 25-22 win for the Lady Falcons.
In the third game, St. Thomas led 6-2 after a kill by Speights. Kenner Discovery tied it at 6-6, but STA moved ahead again with a service ace by Payton Silewicz and a kill by Speights. The Lady Falcons maintained their lead outgunning Kenner Discovery 15-8 to take a 25-19 win.
In the fourth game, the Lady Falcons trailed 14-7 before taking advantage of passing and serving errors by Kenner Discovery to cut the deficit to 15-9. But The Lady Gators maintained their lead the rest of the way outscoring STA 10-9 to seal the 25-18 win forcing a fifth game.
In the fifth game, there were six lead changes and six ties before Kenner Discovery had three straight kills by Alexander breaking a 13-13 tie to take the 16-14 win and the match.
“This one was a lot tougher than it should have been,” said Kenner Discovery coach Grace Bravata, a 2011 graduate of St. Thomas. “We missed key serves and beat ourselves up at the net with missed blocks. But they came together and were able to pull it out at the end. We struggled to make to make the connection with our communication, but we played real hard to pull this one out.”
Litolff led Kenner Discovery with 26 kills, three aces, 13 digs and three blocks. St. Thomas had Nora Faulk deliver 35 assists, one ace, 12 digs and six kills. Speights fired 20 kills, six digs and three aces. Alston nine kills, three digs and one ace. Miley Smith led the defense with 16 digs and two aces. Thompson finished with four kills and one block and Whitney Hall had eight digs for the Lady Falcons.
Lady Falcons sweep again ... take down rival Loranger 3-0!
Saint Thomas collects wins over Independence ad Amite.
by Jim Henderson
HAMMOND— Parish prep rivals St. Thomas Aquinas Lady Falcons and the Loranger Lady Wolves squared off in the first of a two-game home-and-home series this Volleyball season. The homestanding Lady Falcons registered a 25-10, 25-12, 25-18 (3-0) sweep against the Lady Wolves to improve to 4-2 on the year. Loranger fell to 3-3 with the loss.
“It’s always good to have a home win,” said STA coach Zhaniece Parker. “I’m proud of the girls. We played with a lot of dominance on the court. It’s good to see how the team is growing.”
The Lady Falcons held serve much of the time and forced Loranger into passing errors which prevented the Lady Wolves to get into their offense. “A part of our strategy is making sure our that we are on top of serve and pass game,” said Parker. “So, we serve and spike and they can’t run their offense with any consistency.” A level of trust has stepped up with the energy on the floor. So, we can only go up from here.”
In the first game, the Lady Falcons jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind the spiking and serving of outside hitter Aubrey Alston who fired four kills and a service ace. St. Thomas went on a 9-0 run to make it 16-3 before a service error by the Lady Falcons stopped their momentum. Loranger could not get closer than 12 points the rest of the way. Alson spearheaded the next run with three kills to make it 22-10. A passing error by the Lady Wolves sealed the 25-12 win.
In the second game, Loranger took a 1-0 lead after a kill by Phoebe Gautreau. The Lady Falcons rallied to take the lead at 4-3 after a spike down middle by Aubrey Speights. Speights added another kill and Chloe Willie delivered a off-speed spike down the middle to make it 9-5. Loranger had passing and serving errors that pushed the lead to 13-5. The Lady Falcons went on 12-8 run to secure the 25-12 win. Speights highlighted run with a string of four kills. Carter contributed three kills and Thompson fired one kill at the net.
In the third game, both teams were tied at 10-10 before the Lady Falcons took the lead for good at 11-10 after a kill by Alston. Gautreau kept it close with a pair of kills as Loranger trailed 17-16. But the Lady Wolves could get no closer as St. Thomas went on a 8-2 run to make the final 25-18. Carly Berner and Speights led the Lady Falcons with a pair of kills to spearhead the late run
Speights led St. Thomas with 16 kills, two aces and one dig. Alston contributed 10 kills and one ace. Berner added one ace, one dig and one kill. Thompson finished with six kills and Miley Smith led the defense with 10 digs. Nora Faulk delivered 31 assists and four digs the Lady Falcons.
“It was a tough loss,” said Loranger coach Danielle Faucheux. “I think we played hard. We just had a lot of things that did not go our way. We figured it out but it was a little too late. They (STA) had some good hitters that really got us. Our communication on the court improved the further along we got. We had some misfires, but overall I think our girls played well.”
Both teams will meet again at Loranger on Oct. 8.
Lady Falcons sweep the Lady Tors!
Saint Thomas improves to 2-2..
by Jim Henderson
HAMMOND—The Saint Thomas Aquinas Lady Falcon Volleyball team captured a 27-25, 25-22, 25-17 victory over their cross-town rival Hamond High Lady Tors in a highly competitive match played by both sides. The win improved St. Thomas to 2-2 on the season, while Hammond fell to 3-1.
“Give credit to Hammond they came out very competitive and gave us a good match,” said first-year STA coach Zhaniece Parker. “The girls worked very hard and it worked out in our favor. We had a couple of big kills and big moments. Our offense really got going today and we did not let the pressure get to us to us in those big moments.’
In the first game, Lady Falcons jumped out to a 5-0 lead after consecutive service aces by Nora Faulk. Hammond closed the deficit to 8-5 after a kill by Harlie Grant at the net. However, the Lady Falcons maintained their lead making it 15-11 after a kill by Chloe Willie. Hammond rallied by going on a 8-3 run to make it 15-15 after a kill Olivia Patterson. Back-to-back kills by Grant and Patterson gave the Lady Tors a 18-16 lead. Saint Thomas tied it at 22-22 with a kill by Aubrey Speights. The contest was tied at 24-24 and 25-25. A spiking error gave STA a 26-25 lead and then a kill by Willie sealed the 27-25 win for the Lady Falcons.
In the second game, the Lady Tors led 9-3 as Sadie Wetzel delivered on a service ace that was followed by another ace by Sawyer McCabe. Grant and Patterson each fired a kill to highlight the scoring run. Saint Thomas closed the deficit with a 9-4 run tying the game at 16-16 after an ace by Faulk. The Lady Falcons took their first lead at 23-22 after a kill by Speights. Speights made it 24-22 with another strong spike and then Hammond committed a spiking error into the net sealing the 25-22 win for the Lady Falcons
In the third game, Saint Thomas moved out to a 7-3 lead after a kill by Speights. Hammond answered by going on a 6-2 run to tie the contest at 9-9 after a kill by Patterson. The Lady Falcons answered scoring on a block at the net by Kayley Thompson to make it 10-9 lead. Speights fired a kill and scored a point off a block at the net to make it 15-11. Speights delivered another pair of kills to give the Lady Falcons their largest lead at 23-13. A passing error by Hammond secured the 25-17 victory.
Speights led STA with 15 kills and four blocks and one dig. Carter followed with five kills and two blocks. Peyton Silewicz had two aces. Miley Smith had nine digs. Nora Faulk finished with eight aces and three digs.
“We’ll were going home with a loss in three sets,” said Lady Tor coach Amber Babin, who enters her 24th year at the helm. “It’s not the outcome we wanted . We played very competitive and very well in games one and two. We kind of loss our spark a little bit in game three, but that’s okay we got a tournament this weekend that we got to get after and I am proud of my girls.
Lady Falcons fall just short in a thriller.
Saint Charles Catholics wins match 3-2.
by Jim Henderson
HAMMOND——The Prep Volleyball season got underway for area teams and the St. Thomas Aquinas Lady Falcons faced the St. Charles-Catholic Lady Comets in their regular season opener for both teams.
The match went five games with the visiting Lady Comets prevailing with a 22-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 12-15 victory.
In the first game, the Lady Falcons built a 10-4 lead when Nora Faulk delivered a kill at the net. St. Charles-Catholic battled back and tied the game at 21-21. A block at the net by Kaley Thompson of the Lady Falcons made it 22-22. But the Lady Comets answered with a kill and later scored a point off a service error by St. Thomas to make the final 22-25.
In the second game, the Lady Falcons took the lead for good at 8-7 off a service error and then increased its lead to 21-14 on a kill by Aubrey Alston. Kaley Thompson added a pair of kills to seal the 25-15 win.
In the third game, the Lady Comets jumped out to a 9-1 advantage. St. Thomas rallied to tie the contest at 16-16 on a service ace by Faulk. However, St. Charles-Catholic went on a 9-2 run to seal the 25-18 win.
In the fourth game both teams were tied at 10-10 before service ace by Faulk gave the Lady Falcons their first lead at 11-10. St. Thomas forced the Lady Comets into several errors giving STA a 24-20 advantage. A passing error by St. Charles-Catholic sealed the 25-20 win forcing a fifth gam
Both teams were tied at 4-4 in the fifth and final match before the Lady Comets moved ahead 11-6 on a pair of kills at the net. The Lady Falcons cut the deficit to 12-14 on a kill by Aubrey Speights. But a spiking error at the net sealed the 15-12 win for St. Charles-Catholic.
“I think the girls gave it a great battle,” said first-year STA Zhaniece Parker. “We have things that we got to go back and work on like tip coverage at the net for sure. We will get back to the gym and grind it out to fix our errors. Give kudos to St. Charles-Catholic they were very competitive with us. It was really good competition for a season opener.”
St. Charles-Catholic coach Tricia Lowry agreed the match was a good test for her team. “It was a huge win for us,” said Lowry. “We were evenly matched and the competition was well played tonight by both sides. But this is why we play the big games.”
Coach “Z” and the lady Falcons working to build long-term success.
STA welcomes new head coach Zhaniece Parker.
The Saint Thomas Aquinas Lady Falcons will have a new head coach for the 2025 campaign as Zhaniece Parker takes charge of the volleyball program. Referred to by her players as Coach Z, Parker is a Covington High two-sport graduate excelling in basketball and volleyball. She received a full ride to Faulkner State University to continue her education and play volleyball for the Lady Eagles. Following graduation from college, she coached volleyball at Delta Academy, Elite, LA Juniors, the Mavericks organization, and head coach and director at Nike Volleyball. She arrived on campus last season as an assistant before being promoted to the head job.
Expectations are always high for STA volleyball. The Lady Falcons have earned a playoff bid for the past twenty-three straight seasons having reached the semi-final three times during that period. STA finished with an 8-2 record last season in District as the runner-up behind Doyle. With six seniors on the roster and a few returning starters youth will be served this season as new faces compete for playing time.
“One of my goals and is why I never let up on them and push them hard every day in the gym is I want this program to have long term success and be a top eight seed year after year,” said Parker. “We want to establish a competitive culture here and the girls have responded. Our younger girls have done a great job of showing up every day with the fire lit under them competing really hard. Our sophomores and juniors have been going at head-to-head every day. The effort on the defensive side has been looking good. They love each and are good friends but when we get in the gym to practice they go after it and certainly you have to earn it.”
Parker sees some of the early strengths of her team as developing a solid serve and passing game. “I see some of the early progress of this group in the serve and pass game with still more room to improve,” continued Parker. “I see the net play getting better and right now it is more about volleyball IQ and knowing which attack you need to use from what you are reading and making smart decisions and smart swings. While the block is the first line of the defense, we coach that a bad block is worse than no block.”
Unlike most sports where there is a lot of running as part of the game one could think that volleyball is standing still waiting for something to happen so conditioning may not be that important, but that would be wrong. Weight-lifting and conditioning today is essential in all sports and volleyball is no exception.
“There are certainly parts of the body that require strengthening to play the game of volleyball and you want your shoulders and your knees to be bullet proof and you want your ankles to have stability,” explained Parker. “We lift three days a week and immediately after that we move into practice. As for endurance, volleyball it is a 30x30 court so we do a lot of sprints and reactive landing similar to a pogo jump just like an ice skater would work on their jumps and landing to have good balance and quick reaction rebounding off the floor. We also do some distance running on the campus grounds which helps with the endurance as part of conditioning.”
The Lady Falcons compete in Division IV, District 7 and in recent years STA has battled Doyle and Springfield for the top spot. Parker expects this to continue. “The league is always competitive but it is a new season and I am focused on our girls improving,” said Parker. “Doyle and Springfield have been tough rivals for us in District play and likely will again.”
Beyond the fundamentals and game day, Parker has an even higher priority when it comes to coaching volleyball. “My number one priority is building leaders here,” she explained. “Everyone has their strengths and each team member has to lead in a way to make the entire team better. We have what we call Team Tuesdays and on that day we pick team leaders from all the grades and every Tuesday someone different is leading each group. Each leader is given the quote if the day and the focus words of the day and they go back and lead their group various activities as they share the quote with their team and lead the discussion. This encourages everyone to step out and grow into a leadership role. It is a growing process. If I say on game day there is no leadership then that is on me if I have not given them an opportunity to lead at practice. Leadership carries on off the court as well and when they graduate and beyond. It is an essential skill that builds character. I want STA to be a place where we can foster young people to achieve at the next level.”
STA will attend two camps in July at Southeastern and Hammond High and open the season at home on September 2 hosting Saint Charles Catholic. The Lady Comets won their district last season advancing to the Bi-District round of the LHSAA playoffs.
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