BATON ROUGE — The East volleyball all-stars won for the fifth straight year and for the 20th time in 24 matches, but had to come from a game down to do it, winning 3-1 over the West Wednesday night in the 24th annual Louisiana High School Coaches Association/Coca-Cola All-Star game at the F. G. Clark Activity Center on the Southern University campus.
The East won the match by scores of 21-25, 25-18, 25-19 and 26-24.
The East win offset a great serving night for the West with 10 service aces, most of those in the early going, but the West hit negative numbers in game two and three.
In the fourth and final game, the East had match point before the West was able to tie it at 24-24. The Nokia Sugar Bowl Most Outstanding Player Melissa Rhode of Ben Franklin had a key block at the net to get East to match point at 25-24 and the East was able to wrap up the match.
Rhode had 10 kills to lead the East in that category and four total blocks.
The all-star week of games continues Thursday with a basketball doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m., also at the F. G. Clark Activity Center. LSU is hosting the all-star athletes on its campus but the games are being played at Southern because of construction inside the Maravich Assembly Center.
The girls contest is being held for the 32nd time with the West leading 17-14. However, the East has won the last five meetings of the girls’ squads. Last year, the West boys’ team dominated the game, 104-66, and trial the East by one game, 27-26, in the first 53 years of the contest.
Tickets for the doubleheader are $7 and are available online at www.LSUsports.net and at the F. G. Clark Activity Center box office beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.