By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — West St. John needed to go five games to secure victory in its first match with Houma Christian this season. The rematch, however, proved less stressful for the playoff-bound Rams.

WSJ swept the Warriors in three games, 25-21, 25-9 and 25-23 Thursday.

Da’Nae Lumar had eight kills and two blocks for the Rams (12-7, 2-2). Tahajenik Howard had eight kills. Brittany August served six aces.

“Houma Christian) wanted to attack the middle, which has been our weakness,” said West St. John coach Glenda Rush. “We anticipated that and we practiced specifically with it in mind … They got us a few times, but overall the girls were able to move their feet and get into position really well. I’m very proud of them.”

West St. John entered the match ranked No. 20 in Class 1A power points. The win cemented a second place finish in District 5-IV behind Central Catholic, which finished district play with a 4-0 mark and is No. 2 in Class 1A power points.

The Rams also celebrated their Senior Night on Thursday.

A win by Houma Christian would have meant the teams would have had to play a second-place district tiebreaker a day later.  

“This one was so important. We knew we had to beat them to make sure we go to the playoffs,” said Howard, who was one of the day’s honored seniors. “We didn’t want to have to play tomorrow. Everyone at school’s been asking us if we were gonna win. We said we would, and we’d go to the playoffs just like our football team.”

After falling behind 2-0, Houma Christian was determined to stave off elimination in the third game of the day and charged out to an early lead, setting the stage for a Rams’ rally. Alica Johnson’s ace put the Warriors ahead 7-6, then a back-to-back kill and ace from Amy Bonvillain made it a 9-8 Warrior lead. Peyton Eschette followed with a kill, and a Bonvillain ace capped a 5-0 run to make it 12-8.

The Rams quickly pushed back, rattling off four straight points capped by a Sydnei Young dink. Houma Christian scored two more, but Howard slammed a kill. A dink and then a kill by Kaieonne Sorapuru ignited a 7-1 run to give WSJ a 20-17 lead. The Warriors got within one three times from there, but couldn’t catch the Rams, who capped things with three points on a Howard hit, an August ace and a Warriors’ return error.

West St. John put things away quickly in the second game. After falling behind 6-3, the Rams scored 11 straight points, 10 coming with Sorapuru at the serving line. She had two aces and Deja Feist had two kills in the run, which put WSJ ahead 14-6.

“I tell them that when they feel it, put it down,” said Rush. “Deja started to be a little more aggressive and in control at the net today, and it paid off.”

Houma Christian never recovered. The Warriors scored two in a row, but only once more thereafter. WSJ finished on an 11-1 run, finishing on a pair of aces and then a scoring hit by Da’Nae Lumar.

The Warriors rallied from an early deficit in the first game to take a 19-17 lead on a Bliss Theriot kill.

A Young kill tied things up at 20 and an ace by August gave the Rams a lead. Houma Christian tied things on a lifting violation, but WSJ ran off four straight for the win, including two aces by Lumar to close things out.