By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RIVER RIDGE – St. Charles defeated Curtis the first time around but the Patriots turned back the Comets in their second meeting Thursday.

In the center of a packed gym full of pink for Curtis’ annual breast cancer awareness night, the Patriots took a three game sweep over SCC, 25-6, 25-16, 25-18.

“I think the atmosphere got to us,” said St. Charles coach Kelly Cupit. “It was very loud, and it’s been awhile since we’ve played in that kind of environment. It comes with experience. I thought we plated our game (at home), but we got out of it a bit here.”

Patriots’ coach Dawn Curtis concurred that the full gymnasium spurred her team onward.

“Absolutely, it helped,” said Curtis. “It gave us a lot of momentum. In front of a big crowd like that, there was certainly an adrenaline rush.”

The Comets had defeated Curtis in five games in a district match in LaPlace earlier this month.

Curtis said her team limited its mistakes more this time around.

“We put the ball in the 30 by 30 court,” she said. “Not as many unforced errors. We served tougher and passed it better.”

Curtis got out to a big early lead in the first game and rode the momentum to a convincing victory and a 1-0 advantage in the match.

The second game saw a more nip and tuck affair until its midpoint. The Comets and Patriots were tied at 15 before Curtis took off on a run. JCC led 17-16 before finishing on an 8-0 run to slam the door , including two aces by Jessica Jason.

Curtis took the early lead in the third game as well, again behind a pair of Jason aces, going ahead 3-0. A kill by Elizabeth Melancon made it 5-2. SCC pushed back and took the lead after a 5-0 run made it SCC 12, JCC 10.

The Comets kept going. An ace by Megan Ruiz made it 14-12. Nicole Doming slammed home a kill to make it 15-13, and Emily Picciola’s ace made it 16-13.

Curtis rang off three straight points, tying the game on Halle Guyton’s kill. The Comets took a 17-16 lead on the next point, but then Curtis locked in and scored five straight and nine of the next 10 points, closing the game out on a pair of kills by Guyton.

Doming and Picciola each had five kills. Peyton Millet had 18 digs while Raven Becnel added 18 assists. Doming also had four blocks.

The Comets defeated the Wildcats earlier this week, 25-6, 25-18, 25-7.

Millet had 10 digs and five aces while Becnel had 20 assists. Chelsea Loupe had eight kills and a block.

The win clinched at least an even district record for the Comets, with a chance to make it a winning district season if it can pull off a victory at Riverside on Tuesday.

“It was our senior night and we were focused,” said Cupit. “I was very pleased. We were confident and did the little things throughout the entire match. We’ve got another game and still a chance to make the playoffs,” said Cupit. “We need to find that fight that we’ve had.”