MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 12, 1998

METAIRIE – Riverside held off a Lady Spartan rally in the first game and had one of its own in the second game for a 15-13, 15-9 victory at Ecole Classique Thursday afternoon.

Riverside, coming off a third place finish at the St. Thomas AquinasTournament over the weekend, improved to 14-3 on the season. EcoleClassique fell to 5-10.

Tanya Teague had a game-high three aces for the Lady Rebels. JenniferSmith contributed seven kills and Michelle Millet led the Lady Rebels on defense.

For Ecole Classique, Ashley Daray had two aces while Allison Russell provided six kills. Stacey LeBlanc provided top defense.Riverside jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first game behind an ace by Smith and three Lady Spartan errors. That lead would grow to 7-2 on asoft spike and block by Courtney St. Amant and a kill by Millet.Ecole Classique would come back, using a dink by Russell and a kill by Jill Tucker to close to within 7-5. But Riverside answered with a spike byAmanda Roussel that was blocked into the net. After a timeout by EcoleClassique, Amie Graugnard killed a free ball at the net and Millet served consecutive aces to give the Lady Rebels a 12-5 advantage.

Ecole Classique began another rally two serves later as a dink by Athena Monteleone and three Riverside errors cut the deficit to 12-9. After atimeout by Riverside, an ace by Daray and a dink by Russell tied the score at 12. The Lady Spartans would take the lead on their next serve on a blockby Monteleone.

But Smith would help lead the Lady Rebels back, blocking a shot to break the Lady Spartans’ serve and then delivering a dink and a block to regain the lead. The Lady Rebels would take the game on their next serve on anerror by Ecole Classique.

Ecole Classique started the second game by taking a 3-1 lead on an ace by Monteleone. A Riverside error and a dink by Monteleone increased the leadto 5-2. Ecole Classique appeared to increase the lead to four on a kill byMonteleone but the Lady Spartans were ruled to have served out of turn, negating the point. The Lady Spartans shook off the miscue on their nextserve, using an ace by Daray to take a 7-2 lead.

It would then be Riverside’s turn to rally as two Ecole Classique errors and a spike by Smith that hit off the top of the net and dropped in cut the deficit to 7-5. Tanya Teague would tie the game at 7 with consecutiveaces and a tap by Graugnard gave the Lady Revels the lead before Ecole Classique used a timeout. Following the timeout, another ace by Teagueand two Ecole Classique errors increased the lead to 11-7.

A kill by Graugnard and a spike by Jennifer Guidry after a dig by Lindsey Cox gave the Lady Rebels a 13-7 lead. Two serves later, Guidry deliveredan ace and Smith dunked a free ball at the net to give the Lady Rebels the victory.

“We pulled together in the end and that’s what counts,” Riverside coach Gina Centanni said. “We didn’t give up. But I wasn’t pleased, not withdistrict starting next week. We have to start strong and pick it up.”Riverside had been off since playing in the St. Thomas Aquinas TournamentSatur-day. The Lady Rebels lost to Salmen and defeated Christian Life andSt. Thomas Aquinas in pool play to advance to the semifinals. In thesemifinals, Centanni said the team played an excellent match against St.

Scholastica before falling. The Lady Rebels would bounce back to defeatNorthlake Christian for third place. St. Scholastica defeated Salmen in thechampionship game.

Riverside opens district play against West St. John Thursday afternoon.

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