State volleyball tournament title games favor area teams

    Mount Carmel hopes to repeat as the reigning Division I state volleyball champion.         

    Dominican, which lost to the Cubs in four games for that title last year, wants revenge in a big way.
    Cabrini, which last won the Division II championship in 2008 and came close to repeating in the last two tournaments, is one of the top entries in that division.
    And Ursuline Academy, the 2009 Division III titlist and 2010 runner-up to Notre Dame, is the top seed in that bracket.
    The tournament began on Nov. 10 at the Pontchartrain Center. The finals are set for  Nov. 12.
    Fontainebleau (41-1) is the No. 1 seed. The Lady Bulldogs have won 39 matches in which they did not lose a game, including the last six. They have lost just three games all year.
    To get to Mount Carmel, which it defeated twice in five matches, No. 5 Dominican (22-10) will have had to get past  No. 12 Covington, No. 4 St. Amant and Fontainebleau.
    No. 8 Archbishop Chapelle (17-13) was scheduled to face Lafayette (19-10) then face Fontainebleau in the quarterfinals.
    No. 2 Mount Carmel (35-7) also has a difficult road to the finals with nine-time champ St. Joseph (31-10) and No. 3 Destrehan (39-5) standing in the way. The Cubs have won seven state championships.
    Three-time Division II champion Cabrini (36-8) has 31 shutout victories and is favored to get as far as the semifinals before meeting stiff competition in No. 3 St. Martinville (24-7).
The top seed is St. Thomas More (21-5), which defeated Cabrini for the 2010 title in five games.
    The Division III top seed, Ursuline (36-4), has an easy road to the semifinals where the Lions are expected to face No. 4 Parkview Baptist (25-8), a team they defeated, 3-2, on Oct 12. Vandebilt Catholic (33-9) is the No. 2 seed and St. Louis (30-6) is the No. 3 seed at the other end of the bracket. Ursuline has beaten Vandebilt, 3-0.
    No. 2 seed De La Salle (34-5) has beaten both potential quarterfinal round opponents  John Curtis (21-16) and McGehee (20-17). The Lady Cavs’ big test is expected to come in the semifinals against No. 3 University Lab of Baton Rouge (29-6).
    Notre Dame of Crowley (31-11) is the No. 1 seed and the defending champion.
    Hannan (23-12), the No. 6 seed, has beaten its expected quarterfinal round opponent, St. John (28-12), in a Division V match. But the Lady Hawks are on the same side as  18-time titlist Episcopal of Acadiana (28-5), the No. 2 seed. Country Day (31-3) is No. 1.