Volleyball, football in stretch run to playoffs

    The final week of October will mark the final scramble for positions in the fall sports playoffs.
    While it won’t mean much to Class 5A football teams classified as “Select,” it will set the stage for the pairings for the State Farm championship volleyball tournament at the Pontchartrain Center on Nov. 14-16.
    The 5A football playoffs, which will result in three days and nights of Select and Non-select championships, are a sham, thanks to the dimwittedness of public school principals who voted for such an absurdity. This resulted in a 10-team division for 5A “selects,” most of which will have already played each other.
    I firmly believe the final outcome of this mess will transition back into a more reasonable playoff system at the January 2014 meeting, which very well may be the LHSAA’s last chance to avert a defection of a large percentage of its member schools.
    With that thought set aside for the moment, let’s look at what lies ahead for the volleyball playoffs.
’Stickers on a roll
    Although reigning champion Mount Carmel was at the top of Division I in the latest power rankings, the hot team right now is Coach Sivi Miller’s St. Joseph’s Redstickers, who ran their record to 31-1 by virtue of beating Country Day, 26-24, 25-12, in the title game of the Kenner volleyball Classic last Saturday.
    The only loss on the Baton Rouge Catholic school’s record was to Mount Carmel, but since then they have returned the favor twice – in their own tournament on Sept. 28 and again in the Kenner matches on Oct. 19.
    But they weren’t walkovers. Both were by 2 games to 1 margins.
    St. Joe was ranked No. 3 behind the Cubs and Archbishop Chapelle, which was ranked No. 2. That should change in the next ranking as Miller’s team extends its latest victory string to 24 matches.
    Although they still have their hands full when they meet District 6-I rival Mount Carmel, the Chapelle Chipmunks are experiencing one of their most productive seasons in recent years. Coach Jennifer Gandolfo has her players believing in themselves and in each other. The result has been a 29-3 record entering the week and what will be a high playoff seed.
    The remainder of the Division I top 10, descending from No. 4, are Comeaux (17-3), East Ascension (22-7), H.L. Bourgeois (19-7), St. Amant (15-9), Barbe (16-7), Fontainebleau (18-6) and Dominican (21-11).
    Comeaux is a solid No. 4, but I believe Fontainebleau and Dominican are ranked too low.
    ➤ Division II – Though ranked No. 6, St. Scholastica has quality wins over Newman (twice), Fontainebleau, H.L. Bourgeois and Ursuline. The Doves (22-13) just can’t get past district rival Lakeshore to whom they have lost twice. The remaining 11 losses on their record were also to quality (and playoff-bound) opponents.
    Ben Franklin (20-8) is at the top of the power rankings in this division, followed by Lakeshore (28-6), St. Thomas More (16-7), Breaux Bridge (19-9), Vandebilt Catholic (15-9) and St. Scholastica (22-13), the No. 6 ranked team.
    In a rebuilding year, Cabrini (12-14) is still ranked high, at No. 10, because of its strength of schedule.
    And although the Academy of Our Lady (17-7) is considered the No. 13 team in this division, the Penguins will sweep their district and could be a dark horse in the state tournament.
    ➤ Division III – Ursuline, the reigning champion, has a formidable foe to conquer if the Lions have a desire to retain their title.
    Coach Jay Jay Juan’s Lions (23-8) haven’t lost since Oct. 1 and are on an 11-match win streak. But one of those setbacks was to the team to beat in this division, Teurlings Catholic, riding a 29-3 record and a 10-match run of wins since losing to Notre Dame on Oct. 2.
    ➤ Division IV – Notre Dame (27-5) showed why it is top ranked in this division when it handled Teurlings. The remainder of the top five are Newman (27-7), University (28-3), John Curtis (18-6) and Riverside (15-8), which will make it difficult for the Academy of the Sacred Heart (15-11), Archbishop Hannan (10-18), St. Katharine Drexel (10-13), St. Charles Catholic (7-19) and St. Mary’s Academy (8-12) to go deep into the playoffs. However, Pope John Paul II (22-10) could be the surprise team in this division. Coach Earl Gervais has the Lady Jags playing well.
Congrats
    The Allstate CYO Basketball Tournament will honor former Redemptorist athlete Donald Gunalda at this year’s games. Gunalda was a standout basketball and football player for the Rams between 1958-60. He also spent two decades as a local high school football official and served on the chain gang at New Orleans Saints home games.
    ➤ Kudos to St. Aloysius legend Roy Hoffman and his partner, Ewald Groetsch, who won tennis gold medals at the Louisiana Senior Olympics competition last month.
    Hoffman (86) and Groetsch (88) were scheduled to compete in the age 80-90 division, but when they discovered there were no other competitors in that group, they played and defeated  two younger men, ages 67 and 76, to win the championship match, 6-2, 6-2.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].