LAFAYETTE — Country Day sweated out a tense first set and gained the following two simply to safe a 10th consecutive volleyball state title.
Outstanding participant choice Jade Washington and junior center hitter Layla Henderson have been equally powerful to cease on the web because the top-seeded Cajuns defeated No. 3 Central Catholic 25-21, 25-10, 25-8 within the Division V state last Saturday on the Cajundome.
The groups have been tied 10 occasions within the first set till Henderson put down the kill that broke the ultimate tie and sparked a 5-1 run to the end, and the Cajuns dominated from that time ahead.
Washinton, a junior, completed with 15 kills, two blocks and 9 digs as Henderson posted 18 kills with three blocks to spur Country Day to its state-record nineteenth state title — the sixteenth over the past 17 seasons.
Country Day celebrates a win over Central Catholic within the Division V finals of the LHSAA State Volleyball match on Saturday, November 15, 2025, on the Cajundome in Lafayette.
“We played as close to flawless in sets two and three as we could have,” Country Day coach Julie Ibieta mentioned, including that “everybody was just on their game today.”
Country Day (29-11) confronted a 7-3 deficit within the first set and went forward for the primary time at 12-11, and the groups tied six occasions after that till Henderson’s kill put the Cajuns up 21-20. Henderson had seven kills within the first set.
“It just felt like we were unstoppable,” mentioned Washington, who scored two of the ultimate three factors throughout that set-closing run. “Everything was just going our way. And I felt everybody’s grit, everybody’s mentality. Everybody was on the same page.”
Other productive gamers for Country Day included senior Leila Washington (eight kills, three aces) and junior Marleigh White (4 kills, two blocks) as freshman setter Lucille Loomis (38 assists, six digs) confirmed good ball distribution.
Country Day gained the state title with out dropping a set in 5 postseason matches.
“Like every season and every team, you have your ups and downs, and we certainly had that this year,” Ibieta mentioned, including that the staff “started talking about playing our best in the middle of October, and I think we were doing that” throughout the state match.
“It was nice to see us finish in a positive and well-played three sets for us,” Ibieta mentioned.
Central Catholic (27-6), a state finalist for the primary time since 2019, had no reply for Country Day’s hard-swinging hitters.
“We’re not used to seeing that many big hitters,” coach Sunni Rae Blanchard mentioned. “They came out pretty explosive. We kind of struggled getting a block together and they did not struggle getting a block together, and that was one big difference between our two teams.”