The Airline Lady Vikings clinched second place in District 1-I with a straight sets victory over the Byrd Lady Jackets on Thursday night at Airline. Also, the Haughton Lady Bucs clinched a share of the District 1-II championship.
Airline dominated the first set 25-2 then won the final two 25-20 and 25-18.
The Lady Vikings (20-12, 7-2) have a two-game lead over Byrd (14-6, 4-3) with one district game remaining Tuesday at Captain Shreve.
Ruston (18-7, 8-0), which beat Airline in four sets Tuesday, clinched the district championship with a straight sets victory over Natchitoches Central on Thursday.
Airline’s Kaylea Noble had two aces, 10 kills, two blocks and two digs. Gabby Patronis had 17 aces, five kills and four digs. Zahria Lloyd had two aces, two kills, 12 assists and 10 digs. Brooklyn Brandon had five aces, three kills, one assist and nine digs.
Airline went 2-1 in the New Iberia tournament Friday and Saturday, defeating Church Point and Opelousas and losing to Comeaux.
Haughton defeated Booker T. Washington 25-14, 25-9, 25-7 at home. The victory combined with Northwood’s loss to Caddo Magnet clinched a share of the 1-II title for the Lady Bucs.
The Lady Bucs (13-14, 4-1) are one game ahead of Northwood (6-15, 3-2) and Caddo Magnet (8-12, 3-2).
Haughton can win the outright title with a victory over Caddo Magnet in its final district game Tuesday at home. Magnet has a chance to make it a three-way tie for first with a win.
The top two teams in each district automatically qualify for the playoffs.
There are 24 teams with eight byes in the Division I and II brackets. Teams are seeded on the brackets based on the LHSAA’s power rankings.
Airline was No. 23 in the latest Division I rankings released Monday. Haughton was No. 29 in Division II. As an automatic qualifier, Haughton would be the No. 24 seed in the playoffs.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
