By DAVID FOLSE II
Slidell sports writer
COVINGTON—Pope John Paul had no problem in their district opener last week, beating up on a young Northlake Christian squad, 25-11, 25-13 and 25-13.
Allison Hartman led the Jaguars with seven kills and Sydney Neyland and Aixa Crespo had six kills. Marlena Cutura had a solid night as well with five kills, eight digs and four aces. Milayne Danna had a game-high 22 assists and three ace serves.
“We were excited to go up against a good Northlake team,” Hartmann said. “The thing about our team is when we work together and play with energy; we have the chance to be unstoppable. We had it out on the court tonight and I thought our communication between everybody was very good.”PJP (27-4, 3-0) never trailed in the entire match. Breaking out to an early 14-4 lead in the opening game, the Jaguars scored seven of the final eight points to grab a 1-0 lead in the match.
Game two was much of the same for Pope John Paul. Seeing their lead balloon to as much as 24-11 in the second game, the Jaguars broke out to an early 8-1 in the deciding game to come away with the win.
Northlake Christian dropped to 13-9 on the year and 2-2 in district play. The Wolverines were led by Lexie White’s four kills and senior Maddi Chiota had six digs.