Riverside downs East St. John to win 10th match of season, advances to semis in Grace King tourney

By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Tuesday’s matchup between East St. John and Riverside may have been a non-district meeting, but it held a great deal of significance for each side nonetheless.

For East St. John, the match would be a chance to halt a two-game losing streak and establish themselves with a win against a strong program.

For Riverside, the game was the beginning of what could be a long adjustment process – learning to win without one of its leaders, junior Heidi Garcich, who is sidelined indefinitely with shoulder pain.

But Garcich’s teammates stepped up in her absence. Marci Millet 21 kills and 25 digs and Jessica Price had 21 assists as Riverside moved to 10-1, winning 25-16, 19-25, 25-11 and 25-19 over the Wildcats.

&#8220It was a noticeable difference without Heidi Garcich on the court,” said Riverside Coach Toni Miano. &#8220We are in the process of making the necessary adjustments, but there is definitely a huge gap that needs to be filled. &#8220   

Garcich, an outside hitter, was named River Parishes MVP last season, as well as district MVP and St. John’s MVP. The Rebels will have to compensate for her loss, potentially for an extended time.

East St. John (2-3) stayed with the Rebels early in the first game, but Riverside turned on the jets to close out the Wildcats by nine, 25-16.

The second game told a different story. East St. John was the team that took care of business at the game’s end, downing Riverside 25-19.

Wildcats Coach Monica Hebert said that it was like two different teams taking the court for the Wildcats, from the first game to the second.

&#8220We picked up their serve much better,” Hebert said. &#8220We were setting well, getting good hits.”

If nothing else, the game served as a wakeup call to Riverside. The Rebels left nothing to chance in the third game, jumping out early and taking an 25-11 victory.

The score of the fourth game matched that of the second, but not the end result – this time, the Rebels won the game and closed out the match with a 25-19 victory.

&#8220They pulled out ahead early in those games, and we couldn’t match them,” Hebert said.

&#8220Those Riverside girls were all over the court. We didn’t play at their level.”

For East St. John, Raven Simmons, Monique Briggs and Chantell Bush combined to lead the team in kills, with six each. Jolethia Byers had five kills and led the team with five digs.

Each team saw a game postponed or cancelled on Thursday. East St. John was to visit St. Charles, but that game has been rescheduled for September 29. Riverside’s home game with Houma Christian has been cancelled due to Hurricane Humberto.

The win came on the heels of a Rebels run over the weekend in the Grace King tuurnament, where Riverside won its pool but ultimately lost in the semifinals to Chalmette.

Riverside dropped it’s first game in its opening match with De La Salle, 20-25, but turned it on to win the next two games 25-20 and 15-3.

The Rebels followed that up with a 25-13, 25-19 win over McDonough and a win over Lutheran of 25-22 and 25-21 to win its pool.

Chalmette won in the semifinals by a score of 25-19, 12-25 and 10-15.