Local volleyball fans had a great opportunity to see their team in action Thursday as Northshore hosted the Jam of Champs, which featured 14 teams.

Eleven local teams participated with the teams competing in three pools.

Half of the field went to the playoffs last year, while one squad Northlake Christian won the state title and another Fontainebleau finished runner-up.

Northshore’s Alexa Hardy (32) goes up for a block with teammate Kristy Meyer (33) after a kill attempt by a St. Scholastica Academy player during the Northshore Jam of Champs held Thursday. Also for Northshore, Katie Illg (18) and Blair Doiron (19) await a possible tip. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

The jamboree had three first-year head coaches in Covington’s Debbie Adams, NCS’ Rowland Skinner and Pope John Paul II’s Earl Gervais.

Also, the Lakeshore Titans made their volleyball debut.

The teams played one game to 25 and the contests were capped at 25.

The jamboree was back at Northshore after being moved to Mandeville last year, while NHS’ gym went through some renovations.

Sandy Blancher, who enters her 18th year as the head coach of the Lady Panthers, said the event ran smooth.

“We (ran) 14 teams through, everybody getting three games in six and a half hours. It’s our biggest jam to date,” Blancher said. “I think we got great team work from everybody. It takes a lot. More behind the scenes than people know to put it on.”

Blancher said she was appreciative to everybody who helped.

“There was just a lot of teamwork with the coaching staff, P.E. staff, parents and your players,” Blancher said.

To make things better for Blancher, her team went 3-0 against the Pool “A” competition.

The Lady Panthers won their opener 25-10 over Lakeshore and then defeated St. Thomas Aquinas, which lost in the bi-district round last year, 25-16. Northshore finished its undefeated performance by topping St. Scholastica Academy 25-22.

Blancher was extremely happy with the 3-0 record especially since they had lost five of her 12 members before the season started due to various reasons.

“They never got down about it. They have a good work ethic at practice. We still have six seniors starting on the floor,” Blancher said.

St. Scholastica, which got to the quarterfinals last season and was playing without its seniors due to a ring mass, went 2-1. The Doves began by defeating Lakeshore 25-13 and then suffered the loss to Northshore. SSA finished by edging St. Thomas Aquinas 25-22.

SSA Danny Davis said his team turned in a good overall performance.

“The kids played well and put forth lots of effort. We still have a lot of work to do, but the effort is there. I never question their effort,” Davis said.

“When we were in system, I thought our offense was pretty good. Our passing was good so I’m happy with the results. I was happy with the way we played,” Davis added.

The Lakeshore Lady Titans, making their first volleyball appearance, has a team with eight freshmen and seven sophomores. They went 0-3, but showed improvement throughout.

The Lady Titans began with the setbacks to Northshore and St. Scholastica before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas 25-16.

Lakeshore coach Kacie Mulé talked about the experience.

“We’re a young team and we knew it would be a challenge, but we came out, we worked hard to get here and we’re really excited about the season,” Mulé said. “The girls see a new aspect of the game for them. They haven’t seen it this fast or quick offenses like this, but we’re going to get there and hopefully contend by the end of the year.”

In non-local Pool “A” action, St. Thomas Aquinas finished 1-2.

Pool “B” featured back-to-back state champion Northlake Christian, state runner-up Fontainebleau, regional round team from last year Mandeville and Slidell, which made it to the bi-district round in 2008

Northlake Christian School moved up in Class to Division IV this season. NCS went 1-2. They opened by falling to Fontainebleau 25-22.

Emily Miller had three kills, while Hannah Miranda and Molly Boyer posted two kills each.

NCS then defeated Slidell 25-24.

Miranda tied the game 24-24 with a kill and Angela Barrios served the game-winner as Miranda placed came up with a perfectly placed dink.

NCS finished with a 25-21 loss to Mandeville.

Miranda and Boyer recorded three kills each, followed by Mary Wilson and Miller with two apiece.

Skinner said his club has some improvement to do.

“It’s a jamboree and it’s a start,” Skinner said. “I saw some good things out there. We also saw a lot of things we need to get better at. It’s still early and we’re going to get back after it in practice (Friday) and start correcting our mistakes.”

Mandeville sailed to a 3-0 record in Pool B. The Lady Skippers began by topping Slidell 25-17 led by Nichole Freeman with six kills and Katie Lindelow added four. Lindelow also added three digs and a block. Jess Himel delivered eight assists. Lindelow and Kristen Nelsen had two kills each, while Freeman had five assists and two blocks in the Lady Skippers victory over FHS. Lindelow added three digs and Maddie Baker had two blocks. MHS finished the event with its win over NCS (25-21) led by Lindelow with five digs, three kills and three blocks, while Freeman chipped in with three assists.

MHS third-year head coach Christy Sanantonio said she was very pleased with her team’s effort.

“The girls showed a lot of chemistry and overall effort. We had really good passing from seniors Kristen Nelsen and Hannah Campbell. Junior Nichole Freeman had some good assists and sophomore Katie Lindelow who was our leading hitter along with a phenomenal job from senior middle blocker Kelsey Sparks,” Sanantonio said.

“We had some ups and downs in different parts of the games. We have to do a better job of finishing strong when we have leads.”

Fontainebleau, last year’s Division I state runner-up went 2-1. The Lady Bulldogs started with its three-point victory over NCS.

Delaney Pittari led the way with six kills.

FHS then lost to Mandeville 25-16.

Haley Bonneval had five kills and Taylor Anderson added two.

The Lady Bulldogs ended with a 25-13 win over Slidell.

Pittari topped FHS with six kills and Bonneval added four.

FHS fourth-year head coach Danny Tullis said his team’s performance was very inconsistent.

“We didn’t have any intensity. We walked on the floor and just went through the motions waiting for the score to flip. We didn’t make plays with the players waiting around for someone else to make the play,” Tullis said.

Tullis said Delaney Pittari played well and Hailey Bonneval hit the ball well.

“We did not serve receive like we should and we didn’t serve very well. We just looked out of sync the whole time, even in the games we won,” Tullis added.

“Our chemistry just didn’t seem to be there and maybe that had something to do with Jessica Guttierrez not being out there (strained shoulder muscle) along with Sara Ulm who is out due to her leg bothering her. Those aren’t excuses. When the game starts, you have to play with intensity. You can’t take points off and we took a whole lot of points off.”

Tullis said the Mandeville team looked good and were in sync.

“Katie Lindelow and Nichole Freeman did very well for them.”

Slidell lost all three of its matches competing in the tough Pool B. The Lady Tigers suffered setbacks to Mandeville (25-17), Northlake Christian (25-24) and Fontainebleau (25-13).

The Lady Tigers’ Hannah Gambrell netted five kills against MHS and Courtney Courtney had five assists. In the one-point loss to NCS, Courtney delivered seven assists with Quincy Hayward registering three kills, while Whitney Campbell had two aces.

In the FHS loss, Courtney had four assists and Hayward recorded three kills.

Pool “C” was the biggest with six teams, including Covington, Pearl River, Pope John Paul II, Salmen, Hammond and Ponchatoula.

Pope John Paul II, a playoff team last year went 3-0. PJP, playing without starter Ashley Lang, downed Ponchatoula 25-15 and then edged Pearl River 25-23 and wrapped up the final match of the night with a 25-23 victory over Salmen.

Coach Gervais said his club has a long way to go, but made some strides.

“There was still some inconsistency that’s gotta be worked on, but it’s a jamboree. We’ll see how things go when we open the season Tuesday against Archbishop Hannan at home.”

Covington went 2-1. The Lady Lions lost to Pearl River 25-16 and won their last two with victories over Hammond 25-19 and Salmen 25-16.

Pearl River finished 1-2. The Lady Rebels victory was over Covington, but they suffered setbacks to Ponchatoula and Pope John Paul II.

Salmen also posted a 1-2 mark. The Lady Spartans downed Hammond 25-20 before losing to CHS. In the match with Covington, Tourean Cousin and Erika Ybarazabal posted two kills each.

The finished with a loss to PJP. Cousin recorded four digs and three kills, while Ybarazabal had three kills.

For the non-locals in Pool “C,” Ponchatoula went 2-1, while Hammond was 0-3.