News Post

The second-annual St. Joseph’s Academy Pickleball Tournament, hosted by the SJA Alumnae Association on September 14 and 15, enjoyed great success. A sold-out field of 91 teams enjoyed two days of competition, food, fellowship and fun in the Academy Student Center and Activity Center. 

The tournament was open to women’s, men’s and mixed doubles teams. Proceeds will go towards campuswide enhancements. 

The tournament was presented by Audi of Baton Rouge. 

SJA Alumnae Director Alli Bourgeois ’14 said she was thrilled that the tournament was a tremendous success. “We shattered both participation and profit records, growing tremendously in just a year since our inaugural tournament,” she said. “I am excited to see it continue flourishing in the years to come. It was a fantastic weekend, bringing together the pickleball community and SJA alumnae on campus. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of our participants, sponsors, volunteers, committee members and Student Ambassadors for making it possible.”

Katie Jeter Valenciano ’04 returned for a second year as chair of the tournament planning committee. She, too, was excited by the community’s response. “The tournament raised almost double that of our inaugural year in 2023,” she said. “As an Academy alumna, it is always so great being back on campus, especially for a game that brings back so many memories from our PE days at SJA. It was fantastic being able to host players of all abilities, beginners to pros, and I hope next year to see some more familiar alumnae faces as the sport continues to grow in popularity.”

Results are as follows:

Women’s 3.5 Group B: Ellie Merrick and Kaki Wells, 1st place; Staci Polozola and Kandis Venable, 2nd place; Margaret Miller ’82 and Monica Courville, 3rd place

Women’s 2.5 Group A: Janna Laymon and Noah Pajenga, 1st place; Maddi Thibodeaux Fontenot ’14 and Caroline Bondy Taylor ’16, 2nd place; Katie Tebo ’06 and Amy Andrews ’06, 3rd place

Men’s 2.5: Matt Dayton and Jamie Seal, 1st place; Blaze Hayes and Christian Hoppmeyer, 2nd place; Thomas Taylor and Michael Toler, 3rd place

Men’s 3.5 Group B: James Lindberg and Tex Morris, 1st place; Chris Keaton and Chris Russo, 2nd place; Jordan Duong and Jonathan Liu, 3rd place

Women’s 3.5 Group A: Madeleine Nguyen and Alexis Huynh, 1st place; Diana Nguyen and Carmen Gautreau, 2nd place; Trudy Trahan and Lucille Bourgeois, 3rd place

Women’s 2.0 Group A: Katy Ullrich and Heather Brust, 1st place; Victoria Funes ’20 and Amy Andrews ’06, 2nd place; Taylor Baxter and Megan Arceneaux, 3rd place

Women’s 3.0 Group B: Lora McNutt and Jamie Chustz, 1st place; Linda Dantin and Lisa Westmoreland Collier ’81, 2nd place; Ashlee Bergeron and Amanda Hymel, 3rd place

Women’s 2.5 Group B: Jean Walker and Sally Stuart Morgan ’75, 1st place; Allison Brocato Dillard ’84 and Jeane Marie Dillard, 2nd place; Gail Patterson and Sharon Ogra, 3rd place

Women’s 3.0 Group A: Kelly Hill and Kathryn Pittman, 1st place; Hannah Comeaux and Madison Comeaux, 2nd place; Jennifer Fishburn and Lori Falgoust, 3rd place

Men’s 3.0 Group A: Matt Richardson and Darren Martone, 1st place; Pedro Alcedo and Eduardo Alvarez, 2nd place; Don Coppola and Gino Palermo, 3rd place

Men’s 3.0 Group B: Sean Cangelosi and Lawrence Maestri, 1st place; Dean Jones and Dan Bellows, 2nd place; Jimmy Stanford and Tim Spinosa, 3rd place

Men’s 3.5 Group A: Timothy Kwan and Chris Kwan, 1st place; Troy Huynh and Andy Ngo, 2nd place; Destin Thibodeaux and Ryan Domangue, 3rd place

Mixed 2.0 and Below: Amy LaVergne Bursavich ’10 and Austin Bursavich, 1st place; Fallon Gerald Tullier ’16 and Devin Tullier, 2nd place; Alexa Fleniken Butcher ’10 and Daniel Butcher, 3rd place 

Mixed 3.0 A: Eden Guirard and James Bueche, 1st place; Phu Nguyen and Malini Bueche, 2nd place; Sam Fishburn and Laurel Fishburn, 3rd place 

Mixed 3.0 C: Patty Freeman and Thomas Langlois, 1st place; Melissa Kennedy and Chris Chapple, 2nd place; Doug Draper and Donna Rae, 3rd place

Mixed 3.0 B: Ryan Domangue and Tylo Joubert, 1st place; Trudy Juneau and Don Coppola, 2nd place; Tricia Palermo and Matt Richardson, 3rd place

Mixed 3.5+ A: Alexis Huynh and Andy Ngo, 1st place; Chris Kwan and Nan Nguyen, 2nd place; Conner Fugler and Destin Thibodeaux, 3rd place

Mixed 3.5+ B: Darren Martone and Susan Martone, 1st place; Kandis Venable and Tex Morris, 2nd place; Staci Polozola and James Lindberg, 3rd place

Mixed 2.5 & Below: Tonni McCollister and Bob Johannessen, 1st place; Mitch Napoli and Abby Perrault ’14, 2nd place; Marguerite Istre ’02 and Ryan Istre, 3rd place

SJA thanks the sponsors of this year’s Pickleball Tournament. Gold Sponsors were B1Bank, Bustle Bridal, HydroScapes and Queen of Sparkles. Red Sponsors were Amy Andrews Wealth Management of Raymond James, BRDP – Baton Rouge Digital Products, Guarantee Restoration Services, Ideal Vision Care, Wampold Dentistry, Wardlaw, Lasseigne & LeBouef, LLC and Westmoreland Asset Management of Raymond James. White Sponsors were Calvin’s Market at Bocage, Celebrity Theatres, Coleman Partners Architects, Drs. Levy & Vutera Family Dentistry, Himmel’s Architectural Door & Hardware, Lanoix Team with GMFS Mortgage NMLS #2005429, Quality Engineering and Surveying, SJA Dads’ Club, SweetSpot and ZeeZee’s Kitchen and Cocktails. 

In-Kind Sponsors were Capitol City Produce, Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, Community Coffee, Crescent Crown Distributing, Gouda Geaux, Ideal Vision Care, New York Bagel, PointBands, Ronnie’s Boudin, Smalls Sliders, Smoothie King, SweetSpot and Queen of Sparkles. 

Valenciano was assisted in planning the tournament by committee members Amy Andrews ’06, Cora Barhorst ’17, Lucille Bourgeois, Lisa Westmoreland Collier ’81, Victoria Funes ’20, Kimberly Kwan ’10, Ashley Ledet ’88, Margaret Miller ’82 and Grace Ragland ’14. 

Providing invaluable assistance over the course of two days were Trudy Trahan and Kim Kwan ’79. 

Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director