No. 11 St. Louis made easy work of No. 22 Rayne on its home floor Tuesday night in its first-round matchup with the Wolves in the Division III playoffs.
The Saints (19-7, 6-0 District 2-III) rarely trailed in its 25-14, 25-16, 25-13 win against Rayne (9-19, 8-2 District 3-III), and the win moves them to within a game of reaching the quarterfinals at the Pontchartrain Center.
“I can’t complain,” said St. Louis head coach Elizabeth Thompson. “We got the win. We got it done. I don’t know if we play like that we’ll be able to make it much further in the playoffs, but overall I can’t be unhappy with how we played.”
Thompson said St. Louis struggled with passing and communication, especially early on in the contest as the Saints allowed Rayne to stick around in the first set due to a multitude of errors both when attacking and defending.
“I think the concept of the playoffs gave everybody the jitters,” Thompson said. “We got a little frantic in the beginning. It took a little while for everybody to calm down. Playing in front of a crowd is exciting, and I think it got to them a little bit.”
But St. Louis eventually put it all together and, with the score tied at 8 apiece, scored seven of the next eight pints to grab a 15-9 lead. The Saints went on to win the set 25-14, and they never trailed again for the remainder of the game.
The Saints jumped out to a big lead early in the second set, scoring the first five points and jumping out to a 10-4 lead.
The Wolves didn’t make it easy on St. Louis, however, as they inched their way back and cut the Saints’ lead down to 16-13.
St. Louis responded with a big run to end the set however, as they scored nine of the game’s last 12 points to earn a 25-16 victory and a 2-0 advantage.
The Saints wasted little time putting Rayne away with a dominant third set in which they scored the first seven points and never looked back on their way to a 25-13 win and a spot in the second round of the Division III playoffs where they will travel to play No. 7 Iota, which earned a first-round bye with its play in the regular season.
The Bulldogs (28-8, 10-0 District 3-III) earned wins in both of their matches with St. Louis this season, the first a two-set sweep in their second game of the season, and the second a five-set thriller in which Iota edged the Saints 15-11 in the final set.
“I think the girls are ready for a rematch,” Thompson said. “We couldn’t have gotten a better draw in that regard. The girls are ready to go, so I’m excited for that game. I think it’ll be a good one.
“Drawing a team that we know pretty well is always a good incentive to get the girls to show up and play hard. I think it adds a whole new layer to the fun of the playoffs to play a team that you really know well and kind of have a rivalry with.”
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