Trio of area teams vying for state tournament berths

Three of the Tri-City Area’s four volleyball teams will continue their quest for berths in the Allstate Sugar Bowl/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Volleyball State Tournament when they compete in regional round contests Friday.
Two of the three teams will be at home as No. 6 Morgan City will host No. 11 Brusly in Division III action and No. 3 Central Catholic will meet No. 19 St. Katharine Drexel in Division V play. Both games are set for 5 p.m.
No. 17 Berwick will be on the road in Division III action when it meets top-ranked Vandebilt Catholic at 4:15 p.m. in Houma.
Berwick vs.
Vandebilt Catholic
The two District 8-III foes will meet in second-round action in Houma Friday as Berwick looks to make the state tournament, while Vandebilt Catholic seeks to continue its run for its second-straight Division III state championship.
Berwick (10-14) advanced to regional round after taking down No. 16 Pearl River 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17) in first-round action Wednesday. It was the Lady Panthers’ first win against a Division III opponent in eight tries this season.
Meanwhile, Vandebilt Catholic defeated No. 32 DeRidder in first-round action.
Vandebilt Catholic enters the contest on a 10-game winning streak.
During the regular season, Vandebilt swept Berwick in both district contests, defeating the Lady Panthers in Houma on Oct. 9 25-7, 25-11, 25-17 and again on Oct. 18 in Berwick 25-10, 25-9, 25-21.
The teams have common opponents in district foes Morgan City and E.D. White. Vandebilt Catholic swept its two games with Morgan City and split its contests with E.D. White, while Berwick fell twice to Morgan City and twice to E.D. White.
Vandebilt Catholic and E.D. White were District 8-III co-champs with 5-1 marks, while Berwick finished fourth in league play at 0-6.
Morgan City vs. Brusly
Morgan City (28-13) and Brusly (28-16) meet in regional-round action in Morgan City Friday.
Brusly advanced to the second round after defeating No. 22 Loranger 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-14), while Morgan City advanced to the second round after knocking off No. 27 Livonia 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-11).
The two teams have server common opponents this season in Dutchtown, St. John, Terrebonne, Vandebilt Catholic, Livonia, Delcambre and Thibodaux. Brusly lost to Dutchtown, St. John, Terrebonne and Vandebilt Catholic, and it defeated Livonia twice and Delcambre. Brusly split two games with Thibodaux. Morgan City defeated St. John twice and Terrebonne, Thibodaux, Delcambre and Livonia. Morgan City fell to Vandebilt Catholic twice and Dutchtown.
Brusly finished as the top team in District 5-III with an 8-0 record, while Morgan City was third in District 8-III with a 2-4 mark.
Central Catholic vs.
St. Katharine Drexel
St. Katharine Drexel will come to Morgan City for a regional round contest Friday after upsetting No. 14 Crescent City Baptist 3-0 (25-11, 26-24, 25-15) in Division V first-round action Wednesday. While an upset on the bracket, St. Katharine Drexel had defeated Crescent City two out of three times during the regular season.
Central Catholic (34-8) advanced to the second round after cruising past No. 30 Christ Episcopal 3-0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-12).
Central Catholic and St. Katharine Drexel (19-17) have two common opponents this season in St. Martin’s Episcopal and Newman. Central Catholic defeated both teams, while St. Katharine Drexel fell to St. Martin’s Episcopal twice and Newman once.
St. Katharine Drexel finished second in District 9-V with a 2-1 mark, while Central Catholic won District 6-V with a 3-0 record.