By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

On Thursday, Riverside completed step one in defending its district title for the third consecutive season, defeating visiting Carver in the Rebels’ district opener 25-3, 25-3, 25-8.

It concluded a busy six days for the Rebels, who finished tied for third (with Newman) in Redemptorist’s St. Jude Tournament over the weekend and also posted victories over Ascension Christian and Hosanna Christian earlier this week.

“I’m really excited,” said Riverside senior Shaney Borne, who led the Rebels with 14 kills against Carver. “It’s great to start your senior year 1-0 in the district. We really want to win it for the third straight time.

“We were really focused today.”

Shea LaFountain had a big day for the Rebels (15-4), recording 16 aces, seven digs and a block. Aimee Williamson had 10 assists.

It wasn’t the warmest welcome for Carver to District 4-IV, as it joins what was once only a three team district consisting of Riverside, St. James and John Curtis. The Rebels rattled off 17 straight points in the first game before allowing one, then scored 14 of the first 15 points in the second game.

The Rebels were able to rotate in many of its reserves – which Coach Mandy Luminais says could come in handy down the road.

“We want to get them in as much as we can. We’d rather them make mistakes now than later on in the season,” Luminais said. “They know that if a starter goes down, it’s their turn. That could come in district, it could come at state, so it’s good to get them ready.”

On Tuesday, Riverside beat Ascension Christian in three games, 25-13, 25-12, 25-12.

LaFountain had seven aces and seven kills. Heidi Garcich had 10 digs. Williamson had eight assists.

Monday was more of the same for the Rebels, as they downed Hosanna Christian in three, 25-1, 25-15, 25-15.

Garcich and Borne each notched seven kills. Shelby Deslatte had 25 digs. Ashley Forstall had 13 assists and LaFountain had six aces.

Riverside went 3-2 at the St. Jude Tournament to earn a third place finish. It defeated Ben Franklin (25-21, 25-17), Ascension Catholic (25-27, 25-21, 15-6), and Tara (25-20, 25-10). Riverside fell to Mandeville (7-25, 8-25) and host Redemptorist (16-25, 21-25).

After splitting against Mandeville and Tara, Riverside drew a quality Ben Franklin team in a game Luminais put a little extra emphasis on.

“I could remember playing against Ben Franklin in high school. They were an awesome team and they always came out on top,” Luminais said. “With the team we have this year, we could finally pull it off. The girls were so determined to beat that team. Nothing hit the floor.”

Garcich had 15 kills and 18 digs. Deslatte also had 18 digs. Forstall had six aces, 14 assists and two blocks.

The Rebels’ third win over Ascension Catholic went the distance – which was three games in the tournament format.

Luminais credited Ascension’s defense with making the Rebels work on offense.

“Their defense was great, and it took us awhile to find the holes,” she said. “The girls started moving around and hitting the open spots. Our offense really won the match for us.”

Finally, the Rebels tourney run ended with a loss to Redemptorist. Garcich had 11 digs and three aces in the loss.

“I was disappointed. The girls played hard all weekend, and just fell flat against Redemptorist,” Luminais said. “We wanted to win the entire tournament, but I’m still so proud of the girls. We saw some really tough teams, played well, and are more prepared for the rest of the season.”