By GEORGE MAHL

St. Charles Catholic High School versus Berwick High School

LAPLACE – The St. Charles Catholic High School volleyball team used excellent serving to defeat Berwick High School 15-4, 15-6 recently in LaPlace.

Kelly Cupit led the way with two aces and a block for the SCC Lady Comets.

“We used good communication out there today. Everybody is playing with the ability to win,” said Comets starter Amanda Helm.

Cupit, Amanda Rebaldo, and Brittany Vicknair each had two aces in the victory. SCC jumped out to a quick 9-1 lead in the first game thanks to good serves from Cupit and Vicknair. Helm’s kill late in the first game made the score 12-3 in favor of the Lady Comets. A series of volleys back and forth finally ended when Leah Peterson sent down a spike making the score 14-4 St. Charles Catholic.

Early on, game two appeared as if it was going to be much more competitive. With the game tied at three, Brandi Hoover recorded back-to-back kills to give the Lady Comets a 5-3 lead. Tye Leonard’s ace cut the SCC lead to 8-5. However, that would be the last point the BHS Lady Panthers would score for a while. A 5-0 run, that culminated with a Heather Heltz ace, expanded the Lady Comets lead to 13-5. During the run, the Laplace-based team hit the ball where it was difficult for Berwick to set anything up.

“It seems that we had some struggles early in the second game, but managed to work through them. This win gave us the capability to do well for the remainder of the season,” said Helm.

Terrebonne High School versus East St. John High School

RESERVE – The East St. John High School volleyball team was a disappointing 0-4 coming into a recent match-up with Terrebonne High School. None of the loses were close.

However, the Lady Wildcats played well but fell short against the THS Lady Tigers.

ESJ won the first game 15-13, but dropped the next two, 15-3 and 15-7. “I think we have vastly improved since early in the season,” said Lady Wildcats head coach Sandi Stein. “Our serving was much better today than it had previously been.”

Excellent serving is what East St. John got in the first game. Trailing 3-2, the Lady Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. During the run, Artrena Radcliffe served three aces, including two in a row. Later, Ashley Johnson’s block gave ESJ a 9-5 lead. Johnson finished the game with six blocks.

“Ashley had great net play all game long. She really stepped up for us today,” Stein said.

On Terrebonne’s next serve, middle-hitter Brittany Verdin sent down a kill that started a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers. Thanks to back-to-back aces courtesy of Ashley Deion, the Houma-based school pulled to within three, 13-10. However, with the Lady Wildcats leading 14-13, ESJ’s Vivian Aubert blocked a Lady Tigers kill shot to get the victory in game one.

Game two saw East St. John get off to a quick three-point lead. It was downhill after that for the Reserve team. Terrebonne reeled off 15 unanswered points to claim the second game by a score of 15-3. Three aces by Carrie Lapeyrouse and two kills by Verdin highlighted the 12-point victory.

Verdin continued her excellent performance in the third and final game. Two consecutive kills by the Lady Tigers stand-out gave THS an early 6-1 lead. Leading 11-6 in game three, Terrebonne outscored ESJ 5-1 to get the 15-7 win.

“I think we have just got to work harder on our offense in order to be successful in the future,” Stein said.

Louisiana School for the Deaf versus Riverside Academy

RESERVE – Aces were wild in a recent match between Riverside Academy and the Louisiana School for the Deaf.

Senior Krissy Lambert led the Lady Rebels’ attack in a 15-1, 15-3 victory. Lambert scored nine points, including five aces.

“It was kind of a hard game to play because we are used to a more fast-paced game,” said RA co-head coach Jenny Zeringue.

The Lady Rebels had seven aces in the first game. Leading 6-1, sophomore Daphne Zimner nailed a spike to give Riverside a serve advantage. Leading 10-1, middle-hitter Meggie Martin blocked an LSD kill shot to give the Reserve-based school a 11-1 lead. The block was a part of a 9-0 run that gave Riverside a victory in game one. During the run, Lambert had five aces, including four in a row.

“We got outstanding serving from Krissy Lambert and Chelsea Albares today. They did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Zeringue said.

The second game saw LSD jump out to a quick 3-0 lead thanks to the serving of Randi Pippins. It was all downhill after that for the Lady War Eagles.

The Lady Rebels scored 15 unanswered points and claimed the second and final game. Surprisingly, there was only one ace in the second game, attributed to Lady Rebels outside hitter Chelsea Albares. Mindy Richards contributed to the Lady Rebels effort with three kills.

St. James High School versus Reserve Christian Academy

RESERVE – The St. James High School Lady Wildcats volleyball team used excellent serving to its advantage in a recent 15-11, 15-6, victory over Reserve Christian Academy.

Early in the season, the Lady Wildcats have already made improvements from last year.

“We went from winning one game a year ago to having won two so far. I think we’ve done better,” said SJHS head coach Joe Gautreaux.

Antionette Custley led the way with six aces for St. James.

“We will get better as the season goes on,” Custley said.

Things got off to a good start during the first set for the RCA Lady Eagles. Reserve Christian jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead mainly due to the terrific serving from Amie Englade. During that time, Englade contributed three aces.

“Amy was just plain outstanding today. She is going to be a leader this season,” proclaimed RCA coach Timmy Byrd.

Two blocks from middle-blocker Sherryl Gutierrez also led to the Lady Eagles having an early five-point lead. Trailing 7-5, the Lady Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. During the run, Custley had four-consecutive aces for the visiting team.

“She (Custley) helped us play with confidence today and will continue to do so,” Gautreaux said.

Ironically, Custley scored her team’s final point to get the victory in the first game.

It was more of the same for St. James in the second game. An ace from server Lavonshei Jones gave the Lady Wildcats a commanding 9-0 lead. Tiffany Victor’s block finally gave Reserve Christian a chance to serve and end the drought.

The 9-0 lead for St. James quickly evaporated to a 9-6 lead, however, Custley would come up big again and score her team’s next three points to make it 12-6 St. James.

Byrd was not displeased with his team’s play.

“The first game we played was outstanding. We have got six girls that are on the same page right now. The attitude and effort was there this afternoon,” he said.