By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — West St. John split a pair of District 5-V road games this week, downing Centerville Tuesday in three games, but falling to Central Catholic by the same count.

Against Centerville, West St. John (8-13, 1-3) took a victory by a score of 25-14, 25-13 and 25-19. Taj Howard had three aces for the Rams and Deja Feist had five blocks.

“The main thing we did was take care of business early,” said West St. John coach Brandon Dumas. “In that first set, we started off a bit slow, but picked it up in a hurry. It’s good for confidence. We’ve had a few tough ones, but we saw a lot of positives Tuesday. It was good to come out on the winning side.”

Central Catholic, meanwhile, toppled West St. John Thursday, 25-13, 25-10 and 25-10.

Breion Sorapuru had two digs, two kills and a block. Donasia Bell added two blocks.

“I thought we were up and down,” said Dumas. “They’re a top team, and we played pretty well. The first game we had a pretty good showing, but the second game we kinda had a letdown. In the third, we picked it up again. We need to play as hard as we can from the first game on, though. We’ve got some girls who play extremely well in stretches, and we want them to realize that they’re capable of doing it every game.”

Dumas said teams like Central Catholic and Houma Christian, each ranked within the top five in Division V power points, are at a level the Rams aspire to reach one day. But it begins with setting a mentality, he said, one that dictates the team compete for each point regardless of the match’s end result.

“We can’t relax in this district,” he said. “What we need to do is go into each game intending on giving them a battle, not just showing up.”

The Rams currently stand at No. 19 in the Division V power rankings, placing them well within the playoff picture.

Matches with Houma Christian (away) and Centerville (home) on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, will determine its final placement.