St. Louis Catholic and Westlake have dominated Division III, District 1 the last four high school volleyball seasons and will clash for the district title once again today.

Last year the Saints (20-10, 3-0) rallied to take the final three sets 25-21, 25-20, 15-12 and eventually swept the district after Westlake (16-8, 3-0) won the first two sets 25-22, 25-10.

“I think it’s gonna be a good game,” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “They’re coming off a winning streak.

“We’ve been winning and playing pretty well. It’s going to be whoever shows up and plays a clean game, controls the errors, takes care of them.”

The Rams ran undefeated through the district in 2022. In 2021, the teams split two matches, but the Saints won the district matchup and the district championship.

“We beat them in a five-setter, so I think everybody’s ready for another rematch,” St. Louis head coach Elizabeth Thompson said. “They’re always a competitive bunch, and it’s kind of been a fun rivalry for the last several years.”

The winner takes at least a share of the district title. The winner would need to claim road wins on Tuesday to win the district title outright. St. Louis will play at Iowa, while Westlake will travel to Jennings.

Both teams have been hot lately. Westlake has won seven consecutive matches and 11 of its last 12.

“We’ve been playing pretty well together as far as chemistry has gotten a lot better,” Fontenot said. “We are trying to run a faster tempo when we can.

“That was something early on we weren’t doing enough of. We are trying to be more well-rounded offensively to move the ball and not just depend on one or two. Everybody at the net can help carry us. It makes it a threat when you have multiple offensive players that you can go to at any given time. That’s a plus for us. Defense has been doing real well, making adjustments to hitters and tendencies, so we’ve been focusing on that.”

St. Louis hasn’t lost in nearly three weeks, a streak of 10 consecutive matches. Their lone loss in their last 15 matches was to Division II No. 2 Sam Houston (33-5).

“We usually front load our schedule on purpose and play a lot of really tough opponents at the beginning of the season,” Thompson said. “So we never really know how it’s going to turn out.

“But it usually pays off towards the end of the season. And thankfully, that’s what we’re seeing this year because of all that experience at the beginning. We’re finally starting to hit our stride and have figured some things out along the way.”

Thompson said she expects strong blocking and hitting at the net from the Rams.

“I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of blocking and a lot of big swings,” she said. “So our defense is getting ready and our front row is getting ready to try to be more versatile with our shots that we make and trying to keep the ball from crossing the net.”