Yusra Chabayta ’18
The Lady Panthers volleyball team hosted “The Rumble in the Jungle” tournament on Friday, September 23rd at Woodlawn High School; matches started at 4:00pm, with new games beginning every 50 minutes until 8:10pm, when the last games of the night began. They continued playing matches on Saturday, September 24th, with games beginning at 8:00am. Bracket play began Saturday at 2:00 pm, with the Championship Game beginning at 7:20 pm. Games were played both days on three courts at Woodlawn High and another court at Woodlawn Middle.
Hannah Luker and Kennedi Barnes attempt a block during the Tara Tournament.
When asked before the tournament if the players were ready and excited about the tournament, Hannah Luker said, “Of course we are excited, but our tournaments are always a tough competition and allow us to challenge ourselves.”
Twenty-five teams from across Louisiana participated in the tournament. Each team was placed in a pool which contained five teams each. Teams played all of the teams in their pool and received points according to how many games they won. Once the pool games were over, the top fifteen teams from the five pools were seeded and bracket play began. The winner of The Rumble in the Jungle was determined by these games.
Woodlawn was placed in a pool with Byrd, Loranger, McDonogh 35, and St. James. The Lady Panthers finished their pool with a 3-1 record. Their first game versus Loranger was their only loss in pool play (23-25, 18-25). Woodlawn then defeated Byrd (25-22, 25-10), McDonogh 35 (25-3, 25-11), and St. James (25-18, 25-20). Winning three out of four games was enough to place Woodlawn High School as the second place team in their pool. The Lady Panthers were seeded seventh overall going into bracket play.
In bracket play, Woodlawn defeated West Feliciana in a hard fought contest by the score of 25-23 and 27-25, before falling in the second round to eventual tournament runner-up Ben Franklin. Fontainebleau High School finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record and walked away with the championship.
