John Curtis Eyes Top Seed as Playoffs Approach, Aiming for First Title in 33 Years
by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
With just over a week remaining in the regular season, John Curtis stands poised to earn the top seed in the Division IV volleyball state playoffs.
Curtis, 25-6 overall, already boasts the No. 1 power rating in Division IV used to determine playoff pairings, with Lafayette Christian, Newman, Catholic-New Iberia, and Sacred Heart of New Orleans rounding out the current top five.
Barring an unexpected hiccup, the Patriots should maintain their poll position when they begin pursuit of the program’s first state championship in more than three decades. Thirty-three years to be exact, dating to 1991.
Curtis coach Alyx Carter was a northern Kentucky toddler then, less than four months old. Now, at age 33, a mother of two young daughters herself, and in her second season in the direction of the Patriots, Carter promotes program culture ahead of wins and losses with a clear belief that the two concepts run hand in hand.
“I think the biggest thing that is overlooked is these girls are still in high school. They are still evolving,’’ said Carter, a college and high school volleyball standout herself, who spent one season as a Curtis assistant before succeeding Julie Hartley as head coach in 2023. “They’re still learning who they are and they’re still growing.
“I always tell people that teaching volleyball in coaching is so easy. I can teach anyone how to pass a ball with enough repetition and the right words and the right way to speak to them. But I think what a lot of girls lack at this stage is the ability to be themselves and the ability to trust. I think what makes our program successful is the fact that we trust each other as a family.’’
Allow Carter to explain further.
“You have to be able to communicate to people and you have to be able to receive communication effectively,’’ Carter said. “I think a lot of times, especially with high school girls, if they don’t like the way something is said to them, they hold on to it. They hold it in their heart and they don’t let it go. And a week later, they’re still going to remember it.
“So the culture that I’ve tried to develop is an honest culture to where if you don’t like the way something is said to you whether it’s from me, one of my assistants, or another player, we want to give you that space to communicate that. Because we’re all trying to find the best. Nobody wants to see their teammate fail. We want to see all of us succeed.
“So when you go into (competition) with that mindset, it makes the volleyball parts easy, but it also makes the mental load, it makes the chemistry, it makes all of that stuff much easier. That’s kind of where I base our culture. It’s just open communication.
“I want to know how you are today because how you are today is going to affect how you play on that court. That’s really important to me. When we understand that and when we buy into that, which our girls have bought into that, it makes the volleyball part easy. It makes it more fun.’’
The Patriots, by all accounts, are having as much fun as the law allows.
Despite playing against a hellacious schedule, the Patriots have proven up to the task.
They are yet to lose consecutive matches and have recorded winning streaks of eight, seven, and four matches heading into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. Pink Game versus reigning Division III state champion Hannan scheduled for Curtis’ lower school gymnasium.
The Patriots enter having won five of their last six matches after downing Berwick on the road, 3-0, on Monday following a 3-1 run through the Country Day Ed Daniels Memorial Volleyball Tournament this past weekend.
Curtis defeated four-time reigning Division I state champion Dominican, Calvary Baptist, and South Lafourche in straight sets before falling to host Country Day, Division V’s top-ranked team, 2-1, by tight scores of 25-23, 20-25, 15-10.
The Patriots conclude this week by playing host to the District 10-IV Tournament Thursday through Saturday in which all nine district teams are scheduled to compete. Curtis plays the winner of Thursday’s single play-in game between International and Cohen in a quarterfinal pairing scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday on Court 1.
“We’ve had a good season so far,’’ senior libero Marissa Taix said. “We’re excited about the Pink Game this week. Hopefully, we’ll have a win. We’ve worked pretty hard up to this point. I think we’re a pretty well-rounded team. We’re not too heavy (centric) offensively or defensively. We’re pretty well-rounded in that regard. We really were a passionate team last year, so we’re trying to really continue with that emotion.”
That passion helped propel last year’s team to a 33-9 record, a No. 2 seed in the Division IV playoffs, and a run to the state semifinals where the Patriots fell in heart-breaking fashion to eventual state champion Northlake Christian, 3-2.
The Patriots actually won two of the first three sets against the third-seeded Wolverines before being caught in a 22-25, 25-17, 16-25, 26-24, 15-10 decision in which only three total points separated the sides.
“I’m very excited about this season and getting another chance at the state playoffs,’’ junior setter Alyzia’ Cola said. “We obviously want to redeem ourselves from last year and the year before that (which produced an advance to the state quarterfinals). We all want to win state and get that ring.
“It’s definitely been a long time since we’ve been able to do that and say that we’re winners. We just want to prove ourselves and prove all of the haters wrong.’’
Interestingly, for all of its volleyball prowess, John Curtis only won two state championships in the sport with the first coming in 1987.
The Patriots, however, believe that this is the team and the year that the championship drought ends. Not in a cocky sense, mind you. Theirs is a quiet confidence derived from Carter’s culture grooming.
There is plenty of evidence to support their lofty expectations.
Five of six starters return from last year’s 33-9 squad, with Taix, a 5-foot-7 senior, being a three-year starter and a varsity member since 7th grade.
Four juniors round out the group of returning starters: middle hitter Ina Smith (5-foot-9), outside hitter Addilyn Dufrene (5-foot-8), defensive specialist Caroline Naccari (5-foot-6), and setter Alyzia’ Cola (5-foot-7).
New starters to the lineup are senior outside hitter Kennedy O’Brien (5-foot-7), senior middle hitter Kyla Simpson (5-foot-9), and sophomore outside hitter Makayla Morter (5-foot-9) while freshman defensive specialist Mikaela Duncan (5-foot-7) completes the nine-player rotation.
The remaining roster includes senior defensive specialist Ziya Nettles (5-foot-5), two juniors in right side/outside hitter Rylee Simons (5-foot-7) and setter Maliyah Robichaux (5-foot-7) and four sophomores in defensive specialist Kinsley McInnis (5-foot-5), middle blocker Jania Bernard (6-foot), middle blocker Myla Lindsey (5-foot-9) and outside hitter Jordyn Jackson (5-foot-7).
Taix leads the team in digs and receptions with 321 and 391 respectively while ranking second with 38 aces and third with 76 assists. Taix recorded her 1,600th career dig during the weekend in the Country Day tournament.
Cola has recorded a monstrous total of 544 assists while ranking third with 188 digs.
The versatile Morter leads in kills and aces with 295 and 45 respectively in addition to ranking second in digs, assists, and blocks with 242, 88, and 40. Morter additionally ranks third with 269 receptions.
Smith leads with 56 blocks and ranks second with 184 kills and 279 receptions respectively. Addilyn Dufrene ranks third with 160 kills, Kyla Simpson third with 39 blocks, and Duncan third with 30 aces.
“We’ve done a good job of coming together and really playing the roles that I’ve given each girl,’’ Carter said. “Because (the roles) change and they’ve done a good job with (making those changes).’’
“I definitely think that we have the potential to make it to state and I definitely think that we have the potential to win it,’’ Smith said. “We know that it’s going to be hard, but I think we have the fight and the will. We just have to make sure to stay focused on the ultimate goal.’’
“I think something that really helps us out a lot, especially in the tougher times, is just remembering that we’re ‘one team,’’’ Cola said. “That’s kind of like our motto or our slogan, that we are one team and we have each other’s back no matter what is going on. Whether it’s a hard time going on, on or off the court, it’s like we’re a family. We’re all bonded through sisterhood.’’
Carter is more pragmatic than one would expect from a coach. But the Patriots mentor has uber confidence in her charges.
“I think every team talks about winning a state championship. I think that’s a goal for everybody,’’ Carter said. “I think the way we look at it is we want that. That’s the end of our season goal. But the biggest thing that we talk about other than we want to win a state championship, is that we want to walk away from the state tournament satisfied with ourselves, happy with ourselves.
“Because, unfortunately, you’re not going to win every time. And I always have to tell this to the girls that, obviously, everyone hates losing. If you didn’t not hate losing, I’d have questions. Everyone hates losing. But losing poorly and losing well are two different things.
“So, like I said, our goal is to win a state championship. I want that for ourselves, I want that for our program, I want that for these girls who have worked since April. But, more so, I want us to walk away from that (state) tournament and say, ‘We did everything that we could possibly do. We did everything we could possibly do in the offseason, in the spring, in the summer, this season.’ We did everything and then the chips will fall where they fall.
“But, obviously, (a state championship) is the goal for us. We want to come home with that trophy.’’
Carter has prepared the Patriots with a demanding schedule in which Curtis has taken on all comers regardless of classification.
The Patriots own victories against Dutchtown and Dominican, two of the top six rated teams in Division I along with wins against other current highly-rated programs like Northlake Christian, Lakeshore, E.D. White, Ascension Catholic, McGehee, Riverside, Berwick, Calvary Baptist and South Lafourche (twice).
Curtis’ six match losses have come against Country Day (twice), Haynes, Hahnville, Ben Franklin, and Fontainebleau. Country Day is the No. 1 rated team in Divisions IV. Haynes is No. 2 in Division III. Hahnville and Fontainebleau are Nos. 2 and 4 in Division I. Ben Franklin is No. 3 in Division II.
“I will say one thing that I think is interesting about this season. Just overall, there is not one team in any division that is a standout team,’’ Carter said. “Aside from Country Day, who I’ve watched play, and they’ve been really consistent throughout the season. (But) every other team, (it’s been like) they’ve beat (opponents) that I’m like like, ‘Wow!’ And they’ve lost to teams that I’m like ‘Wow!’
“Do we have all of the tools? Absolutely. Now, if we use those tools to the best of our ability, do I think we have all of the ingredients for a state championship? Absolutely. But I also think that I can say the same thing for other teams, too. That’s what’s so fun about sports. You don’t know what’s going to happen on the day of a match.’’
The Patriots are counting on their discipline and ball control to elevate to the next level.
“It comes down to ball control,’’ Carter said. “Where I’m from (in northern Kentucky), we focus so much on defense and passing. If you can control balls and defend and keep the ball in the court offensively, you’re going to do fine. At the high school level there are so many unforced errors made that if you can cut back on those unforced errors, it will benefit you. So, with us, we focus so, so much on ball control.’’
Finishing is something Cola, the setter, believes needs attention down the stretch.
“There were a lot of games where we have been up and we let the other team back into it,’’ Cola said. “That’s actually how we’ve lost a couple of the games of the six we’ve lost. Just letting other people get hope and letting them get back into the game. Where we made it harder on ourselves to push through the couple of points that we need. So I would definitely saying finishing (is important).
“I would say that anything else that we have to work on depends on the game. I would say that we’re consistent in some things and in others, we kind of go game by game. I think our ball control is one of our most consistent things.’’
“I think energy-wise that our energy could be more consistent. I think we really depend a lot on our play rather than just going into the game (playing) with energy. I think that how we play, whether our hitting is good or whether our defense is good – I think that affects us a lot emotionally on the court. I think that we could do a better job of keeping that more consistent throughout a match no matter if we’re doing amazing or if we’re down.’’
“I think if we go into (matches) concentrating on the things that we need to focus on, which is staying consistent, finishing and everyone playing their roles, I think we’re going to be perfectly fine,’’ Smith said. “We just have to bring it all together.’’
“We’re definitely excited to see where this weekend takes us,’’ Cola said. “We definitely are going in to win, of course. But we haven’t played these teams yet this season besides Ursuline and Sacred Heart. Me, personally, I definitely want to get our win back last year from Newman. I think that we are going to go into this weekend with high hopes, and hopefully playing consistently and with energy, and come out on top.’’
District 10-IV Volleyball Tournament
Thursday, Oct. 24
International at Cohen, 4 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25
(at John Curtis)
Quarterfinals
Game 2: Cohen-International winner vs. John Curtis, 4 p.m., Court 1
Game: 3: Ursuline vs. Sarah T. Reed, 5 p.m., Court 1
Game 4: Newman vs. Morris Jeff, 5 p.m., Court 2
Game 5: Sacred Heart vs. St. Mary’s, 4 p.m., Court 2
Saturday, Oct. 26
Consolation games
Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 9 a.m., Court 1
Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 9 a.m., Court 2
Semifinals
Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 10 a.m., Court 1
Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 10 am., Court 2
District Championship
Semifinals winners, 11 a.m., Court 1