By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

BOUTTE – Hahnville needed a strong performance after dropping its first three district contests. It found just that against East St. John on Wednesday.

The host Tigers rolled from the start, capturing a 25-12, 25-7, 25-12 win on its home floor.

It dropped East St. John to 0-4 in district competition.

Brandi Soigner had nine kills to lead the Tigers. Shea Zeringue had five digs and Lauren Simar added a pair of blocks.

“I think both our focus level and communication level was high today,” said Soigner. “If we keep doing that our success level will be higher, too.”

Hahnville (2-14, 1-3) began the first game with an ace from Zeringue and rushed out to an 8-3 lead.

But the Wildcats responded — a Taja McGee block, Chentel Noble ace and a Ayanna Hall tip helped generate a 4-0 run to make it 8-7.

But Hahnville scored three straight, then started to pull away. KaeLynn Body slammed a kill to make it 17-10, then did it again and added an ace to make it 19-11. A Simar kill made it 21-11, and her ace would end the game.

The second match saw Hahnville dominate from start to finish, scoring the first nine points of the game, interrupted finally by a Terynek Grover block. But Soigner answered with two straight kills. She’d finish the second game with another.

“We were very aggressive and we passed it well. It enabled us to jump on them early,” said Hahnville coach Mendi LeBouef.

ESJ coach Monica Hebert reshuffled her lineup in the third game and the Wildcats kept things close early on. But with Hahnville ahead 11-9 after ESJ’s Jessica Sanford scored, the Tigers ran off seven straight points to take control. HHS would score the final five points in the game, capped by a match-sealing ace by Katy Murray.

“I think a win like this does a lot for our confidence,” said Soigner. “We moved our feet well and got in position all game.”