Glen Oaks hosts Woodlawn in playoffs

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 3, 2009 - Page: 8C

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When Glen Oaks High coach Trey Earle saw the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s volleyball playoff pairings Monday, he got two surprises.

First, Earle saw that the Panthers (27-12) garnered a No. 14 seed in Division II-Class 4A and would be hosting a bidistrict playoff game.

Then Earle realized his team will face another local team, No. 19 Woodlawn, coached by former GOHS coach Nelson Malpica. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Thursday at GOHS.

“I was excited to find out that we’re hosting, and then I saw who we get to play,” Earle said. “And then I thought, ‘Of all the teams to be matched up against, why Woodlawn?’ But it happens that way.

“Coach Malpica coached at Glen Oaks for a long time, and I was his assistant for three or four years. So it will be pupil versus mentor. The girls all know each other. Some of his players were on my club team this summer.”

“A couple of girls on the (GOHS) team played for me as freshmen,” said Malpica, who was GOHS’ head volleyball coach for 17 years. “They’re a solid team. We beat them a couple of times early in the season and then they beat us in a tournament. It should be a good one.”

The Woodlawn-GOHS match-up is just one of the volleyball storylines that emerged when the LHSAA released its playoff pairings. Bidistrict contests must be played by Thursday. Teams play two rounds before the LHSAA State Volleyball Tournament begins Nov. 12 at Kenner’s Pontchartrain Center.

Two-time defending state champion St. Joseph’s Academy grabbed the No. 1 seed in Division I-Class 5A. The Redstickers, who received a first-round playoff bye, are the only local top seed.

Under the LHSAA’s revamped volleyball system, the top eight seeds in each of its five divisions received a bidistrict bye. Also, schools that won district titles host playoff contests in the bidistrict round if their higher-seeded opponent was not a district champion. One example involving a local team is in Division III-Class 3A where No. 18 seed Brusly hosts No. 15 Jennings.

Because volleyball schools were classified separately based on their enrollment, the playoffs feature some other unique facets. For example, St. Michael is a Class 4A team in most sports, but is the No. 5 seed in Division III-3A schools.

Catholic-Pointe Coupee of Division V-Classes 1A, B, C is a No. 4 seed. Two teams in Division II-4A, No. 7 Live Oak and No. 8 Central, also received bidistrict byes, along with No. 6 West Feliciana of Division III-3A and No. 8 University High of Division IV-2A.

There are some other notable bidistrict match-ups, including two Division III matches that involve local-area teams — No. 19 Baker at No. 14 Redemptorist and No. 24 Albany at No. 9 Parkview Baptist. Livingston Parish-based Albany pulls off the rare feat of advancing to the playoffs in its first varsity season.

It is all in the family in Division II for Malpica, whose daughter, Maria Gonzalez, is head coach of No. 11 seed Broadmoor, which hosts No. 22 Karr-New Orleans.