By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

There was a little cross-River Parishes mixup on Thursday between volleyball foes Riverside and Destrehan on Thursday: the Rebels traveled to Destrehan for their scheduled game with the Wildcats, but the Wildcats were headed in the other direction, to Reserve.

But things were straightened out eventually. Riverside, in fact, hosted an entertaining and competitive match in which Destrehan emerged the victor, 26-24, 26-24, 25-23.

Destrehan coach Denise Keller noted that her team was hardly perfect, but credited her girls for finding a way to emerge with the win.

“We joke that the girls look to give people their money’s worth,” said Keller. “They like to go to five games — they want that entry fee to look like a bargain. We did it in three this time, but there were a lot of unforced errors. We stretched out every point. But they found a way to win.”

The win moved Destrehan to 4-0 on the season. It was the Wildcats’ second win this week over a local opponent, after downing St. Charles on Tuesday.

Alexis Keller led Destrehan in kills with 16. She added two aces. Robin Sill had 17 assists and 15 digs, both leading the Wildcats.

Individual statistics for Riverside were not available at presstime.

Denise Keller credited Riverside’s defense for making things tough on her team.

“Riverside is always a scrappy team,” she said. “They may only have one or two big hitters – 20 (Shea LaFountain) is a good one – but they always play good defense. And if you make mistakes against a team like that, they’re going to really push you.”

An influx of heady freshman, she says, has given Destrehan the most depth it’s had in years. Twins Michelle and Nicole Hymel and Alyssa Redecker all play like experienced veterans, she says.

“I haven’t seen a group of freshman like them come through the door in years,” the coach says.

“This team can block, kill, pass, set, dig…in the past, we’ve struggled in one or two of those areas. And even when we have one or two girls struggling, we have others ready to pick up the slack.”