Top 10 Headliner: No. 3 St. Michael maintains winning ways against No. 10 Dunham

by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

BATON ROUGE – It was the kind of high-level competition and atmosphere that St. Michael the Archangel volleyball coach Latashia Wise-Jackson embraces, especially with three weeks remaining in the season.

Dunham got the attention of St. Michael with a spirited home crowd and a first-set victory, but the Lady Warriors rose to the occasion to win the next three sets for a 3-1 victory on Tuesday.

“I get goose bumps because this is what’s supposed to be happening,” said Wise-Jackson, who is in her first season. “This is the type of volleyball you’re supposed to be playing. Dunham is an outstanding team. You’ll see them in the Cajundome (site of state tournament). You’ll see them at the end. This is the type of volleyball we want to be playing now, to drive us forward.”

It was a Top 10 matchup of teams in the VSN/GeauxPreps Volleyball Power 25 with No. 3 St. Michael defeating No. 10 Dunham 18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20. It was the 11th win over a Top 25 team for the Lady Warriors, the No. 3 team in the Division III state power ratings.

St. Michael (20-1) won for the 10th straight time and avenged a 3-1 setback to Dunham last season.

“It wasn’t pretty,” St. Michael senior Bella LeBlanc said of last year’s home defeat. “We weren’t really thinking about that. We wanted to be better than we were last year. We just really wanted to work hard.”

LeBlanc led a balanced effort with 10 kills and seven digs, while Skylar Towner added eight kills and three blocks. Ava Rodrigue had nine digs and seven service aces, Marielle Gary 37 assists and eight digs, and Bella Bravata six kills, six digs, and four aces.

Dunham, the No. 1 rated team in the Division IV power ratings, took the initiative and handed St. Michaels its second opening-set loss of the season.

The Lady Tigers’ powerful front line of Isa Richardson, Kennedi Owens, and Zadi Huggins helped to snap an 18-18 tie, the 14th of the set, and led the team to a 25-18 win in the opening set.

The trio combined for six kills and five blocks in the set. Huggins finished with a match-best 17 kills, 14 digs, and two blocks. Richardson contributed seven kills and six blocks, and Owens added eight kills and five blocks.

Setter Katherine McDonald had nine digs, four kills, four blocks, and 27 assists.

“They have phenomenal hitters,” Wise-Jackson said of Dunham. “You’re looking at all-state players right there. I told our players that we needed to be able to touch the ball, and our defense will take care of it. Players like that are going to get balls going through the floor. It’s going to happen a couple of times in a match, but that can’t shock you. You have to be able to respond, and they did.”

With Rodrigue serving to begin the second set, St. Michael jumped out to a commanding 10-0 lead. She picked up two service aces, and Dunham’s defense also struggled with its serve-receive during that opening stretch, which also included two kills from LeBlanc.

“Our serve-receive started super slow,” Dunham coach Meagan Harrington said. “I felt like every set we were playing catch-up. They served tough, and it worked.”

Dunham, last year’s Division IV state runner-up, got within 17-13 on Richardson’s block and an error until St. Michael picked up steam behind the serving of Camille Kinchen and LeBlanc, opening the lead back to 22-15 until Bravata’s kill closed out the set and evened the match.

“It’s not how you start, but how you finish,” Wise-Jackson said. “I’ve been telling them all season long about turning the page. Keep looking forward, not behind at what happened. Everything good happens in front. I just gave them a spark underneath them. That’s all this team needs in a spark. They’re a very seasoned team that needed a little spark.”

St. Michael continued to play from ahead in the third set, bolting to leads of 11-3 on Towner’s kill and 15-11 on LeBlanc’s kill. Huggins’ four kills enabled Dunham to stay within reach, trailing by four points on three occasions, when the Lady Warriors slammed the door on a cross-court kill from Bravata off Rodrigue’s assist, and Gary’s kill.

“We just didn’t have our feet on the gas,” Harrington said. “We’re a super physical offense, and when we’re not physical consistently, the other team finds an opening.”

Dunham took its first lead since winning the opening set in the initial stages of the fourth set, which closely resembled the opening set with nine ties. 

St. Michael took the lead for good at 14-13 on LeBlanc’s kill, but had to fend off several rallies from Dunham, until Bravata’s service, which included a pair of aces, helped carry the Lady Warriors to a 21-15 lead when the Lady Tigers had a couple of attacking errors.

Gary had a hand in her team’s final two points with assists to Towner on a tip and LeBlanc on a kill.

“They kept their unforced errors super low,” Harrington said. “Credit to them, that’s where we lost. To see a matchup like that midseason is a great test for later in the playoffs. I appreciate seeing it early, and I’m glad they gave us all they had.”