It was a playoff-like atmosphere between two title-contending teams.
And with the district championship hanging in the balance, it was Vandebilt who emerged, scoring a hard-fought win over their longtime rivals.
Vandebilt beat E.D. White in a 5-set thriller on Tuesday, rallying from 2-1 sets down to score a 5-set win.
The Terriers lost the first and third sets (13-25 and 16-25), but won the 2nd and 4th (25-23, 25-22) to push the match to the decisive 5th set.
In that set, the teams went back-and-forth, but it was the Terriers who found a way to get just a little bit extra, pushing past their rivals to score an 18-16 win to win the district title.
Both Vandebilt and E.D. White are contenders in Division III. Both teams are expected to challenge in the playoffs to make it to the Cajundome and beyond. Both teams played at an extremely high level at time and went back and forth trading blows until the final point when Vandebilt found a way to inch past their rivals.
Coach Latashia Wise-Jackson said earlier this season that her team has the potential to achieve all of their goals if they come together and persevere. On Tuesday, Vandebilt did that, playing through the adversity on the road in a thrilling match that will go down as one of the best matches of the year locally.
Both teams will be in the Division III State Playoffs and there is a chance they could compete against one another in the postseason.