KENNER -- Episcopal School of Acadiana moved on but Catholic High moved out Thursday after the first day of the State Farm/Louisiana High School Athletic Association State Volleyball Tournament held at the Pontchartrain Center.

The Lady Falcons advanced to today’s semifinals with a 25-9, 25-8, 25-14 sweep of Ascension Catholic in the Division V semifinals. Catholic High pushed perennial playoff power Academy of the Sacred Heart from New Orleans but fell 26-24, 25-14, 25-18 in the Division IV quarterfinals.

Top-seeded ESA played Catholic High of Pointe Coupee in today’s semifinals at 10 a.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday’s finals against the winner of Houma Christian and Country Day.

Abby Henagan, from left, Casey Breaux and Lanie Lissard of Catholic High School compete in a match earlier this season. CHS lost in the Division IV semifinals at the state tournament in Kenner on Thursday. - Lee Ball / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

“I think that we were ready and I think that we played very well,” said ESA coach Becky Madden. “The one thing that I was impressed with our blocking. We stepped up our blocking and shut down Ascension Catholic.

“They really had a struggle and had to play smart against us because our blocking was really strong.”

Madden said that after the first two games she put in other players in the third game and that was the main reason the final game of the match was a little closer than the first two.

“It may have affected the chemistry a little bit but there was really no problem in the third game,” said Madden. “We got the momentum early and held it throughout the game. They just ended up getting a few more points than they did in the first two games.”

The ESA coach said that her team is ready for the challenge of the semifinals and the finals in the attempt to bring home the Lady Falcons’ first title since 2003.

“Even though our overall goal is to get to the finals, we don’t talk about it at all,” said Madden. “We’re going to worry about the semifinals first.”

Mallory Gunn had two aces and five assists for ESA. Adrian Brown had four kills, Sarah Guenard had four kills and two blocks, Tiffany Jenkins added four kills and two aces, Merritt Longman had five aces and 22 assists, Olivia Branlet had four kills and Katherine Cyrus had eight kills and a block.

The Catholic High Lady Panthers pushed Sacred Heart in the first game before falling 26-24 and played hard in the next two games but couldn’t get past the Lady Cardinals, who played top-seed McGehee in today’s semifinals.

“I think that the biggest thing was the nerves and the excitement,” said CHS coach April Harris. “It was the first experience at state for a lot of the girls and our nerves got us a little bit.”

Harris said Catholic High trailed in the first game and rallied to tie the game at 23-23 but ASH pulled ahead at the end for the 26-24 win.

“It’s really important to get the first win. Then you have the jitters behind you,” said Harris. “With them winning the first game, we put pressure on ourselves to win instead of keeping the fire going and just playing.”

Lanie Lissard had nine kills and three aces for Catholic High and Abby Henagan had 33 digs. No other individual statistics were immediately available.

“Could we have played harder? Could we have played better? Yes,” said Harris, who thinks that the groundwork has been laid for another run next year. “We’re losing two girls and everyone is going to be back next year. Now they know what to expect and that jitter should be behind us now and we can just come out and play.”