Entering the final week of the regular season, the New Iberia Senior High Lady Jackets volleyball team knew exactly where they stood in district play, solidly in fourth place with no chance for an automatic berth into the postseason.

But with a wildcard spot up for grabs, the Lady Jackets also knew that wins this week against Acadiana Tuesday and Comeaux Thursday would boost their power numbers and could be the difference between making the playoffs and not making the postseason.

Behind Jasmine Fusilier’s 11 kills and two blocks, NISH took care of Tuesday’s game by sweeping Acadiana 25-20, 26-24, 25-13. Now the Lady Jackets can concentrate on Comeaux Thursday and then wait to see if they will play in the postseason when the brackets are announced Monday.

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“We knew it was a must win,” said NISH coach Ron Hebert. “We’re in a must win situation. You don’t know the rankings which have only come out twice so far. We should have a good enough record to get in but the best we can do is fourth in district, maybe tie for third.

“But we have to beat Comeaux for the numbers. They have 20 wins which will be big time points for us. With this win and that win, it should solidify a playoff spot somewhere.”

Hebert explained the process that the top two teams from each district get in the playoffs, which is 14 teams, then the rest of the wildcard spots are up for grabs.

“What’s sad is that there will be some first place and second place teams that don’t have winning records that will get in ahead of teams with 20-plus wins,” said the NISH coach.

Brooke Miller had six kills and two blocks; Brittany Dugas had 15 assists, two kills, 16 digs and four aces and Shalyn Rabeaux added four kills for NISH (22-14, 7-4), which played in a tough district that could have any type of result this year according to Hebert.

“There were four teams that could beat anybody on any given night,” said Hebert. “Even Acadiana, Carencro and Sulphur made it tough. I felt that anywhere from first through fourth was achievable and that’s where we fell in this year.”

With one game left in the regular season, the Lady Jackets can improve their potential seed or drop, depending on what happens Thursday. Hebert explained that there is no playoff tuneup this year unless you are seeded in the top eight teams because those teams draw a first round bye this year.

“There is no way of knowing where you will end up,” said Hebert. “It’s just too close.”

Acadiana (8-19, 0-11) was plagued by the same troubles that affected AHS all year, according to coach Anne Roger.

“We’d make a good run, come from behind to tie it up and just not be able to make a run of it ourselves,” said Roger. “It’s been a problem all year for us. We’ve never been able to quite get that finish.”

Roger said that in the second game, Acadiana had serve at game point, 24-23, but ended up with a serving error that allowed NISH to tie the game, then win it with two consecutive points.

“You just can’t do that,” said Roger.

Ann Clair Breaux had two kills and three blocks for AHS; Morgan Guidry had three kills and Laquena Mouton had five kills in the loss.

For the Lady Jackets, it all comes down to one game Thursday.

“We needed a good showing today,” said Hebert. “Not just a win but a good showing. We need to play well against Comeaux.”