By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles is off to a tremendous start with wins in eight of its first 10 games. The Comets found a bump in the road Thursday with a loss in three games at home to visiting Runnels (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) but defeated Ecole Classique and went 3-1 in last weekend’s Grace King tournament, with its only loss coming to eventual champion Slidell.

Heather Orillion had six kills and Nicole Doming added five for St. Charles on Thursday. Alex Hitt had five aces. Ashley Klibert had eight digs.

“Defensively I thought we did a great job,” said St. Charles coach Kristen Sullivan. “Offensively, we had a bit of a tough time. We struggled with our passing today and we weren’t able to run our offense as we’d like to.

“The main issue was that we couldn’t earn our points. We served tough, our offense got better toward the end. But we couldn’t put it away.”

The opening game of the three was filled with runs, with neither team establishing a strong hold on the lead.

Early on, St. Charles (8-2) seemed to gain the momentum. A run of four points, ignited by a kill by Orillion and an ace by Emily Picciola, put SCC ahead 7-3. Runnels (3-2) then fired back with a surge of six consecutive scores, beginning with a tip home by Elizabeth Forgey and also including an ace by Danielle Coniglio.

After a kill by Orillion drew SCC within three at 15-12, a quick run of four, including a Rebecca Fenell spike, gave the Raiders a 19-12 lead.

SCC went to work again and game close to reestablishing control. Chelsea Loupe’s ace helped fuel a 4-0 run to make it 19-15. A kill by Doming made it 23-18; with the Comets at the brink of elimination at 24-20, a kill by Orillion and her ace immediately after drew SCC within one. But Forgey’s kill clinched the game for Runnels.

The second game saw the Comets run off four straight points to begin things, including a block by Loupe and an ace by Raven Becnel. Runnels rallied to tie it and took a 10-7 lead. Doming slapped home a kill to draw SCC within three again at 12-9, but then the Raiders took control, scoring six of the next seven points, sparked by an ace by Fennell. SCC rallied to within two late but a return out of bounds sealed a 2-0 lead for the Raiders.

The third game again saw a quick start lift SCC to an early lead, this one 6-4. But a 5-0 run by Runnels put the Raiders ahead for good. Kourtney Khalid-Abasi’s kill gave Runnels’ its third 19-12 lead in as many games.

SCC trailed 24-17 after a Becnel ace, but it would be their final point. Coniglo’s ace would seal the game and the match.

“We had to regroup,” said Runnels assistant coach Lana Harris. “We got a little frenetic early, away from what we like to do. They kept us off balance. But we regrouped, got focused, and the last two games I thought we were back in a groove.”

SCC TOPS ECOLE IN THREE

Tuesday saw St. Charles down Ecole Classique in three games, 25-19, 25-16 and 25-9.

Orillion had six aces and 10 kills to lead the Comets. Doming added eight kills.

It was SCC’s second win over Ecole in the span of a week.