By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

 

RESERVE — Its season delayed and its school and city dealing with the effects of the flooding wrought from Hurricane Issac, Riverside’s volleyball team lost six of its first seven matches in 2012. It took another 34 matches for the Rebels to lose as many.

Riverside caught fire under first-year Rebels coach Chelsey Lucas-Nicholas, making a memorable run to the Division IV state semifinals highlighted by a quarterfinal victory over De La Salle filled to the brim with drama.

A tremendous season for Riverside earned Lucas-Nicholas and three of her players spots on the 2012 L’Observateur All St. John Parish volleyball team, led by this season’s Most Valuable Player, Kendra Turner.

Turner missed the first quarter of the Rebels’ season as Riverside waited for the Houma Christian transfer’s eligibility to be cleared. It finally was, just prior to Riverside’s district opener at St. Charles, and Turner immediately cemented herself as one of the state’s most dynamic and dominant players.

The 6-foot-2 inch junior slammed down 256 kills this season to go along with 72 blocks and 40 aces.

Turner’s best moment likely came in the team’s win over De La Salle, as she racked up 34 kills and 10 blocks to help RA rally from a two game deficit.

Joining her on the team are fellow Lady Rebels Danielle Sharp and Toni Hebert  along with Lucas-Nicholas, who collects this year’s Coach of the Year honor.

Lucas-Nicholas quickly made her expectations known this season — after leading Houma Christian to consecutive state semifinal bids in Division V, she asserted that the Rebels could contend to win it all if and when they pulled together. That’s exactly what happened, as Riverside won 28 of its last 34 games to finish within a victory of a state championship game appearance.

Sharp returns to the All-Parish team after earning St. John MVP honors a year ago. She slammed 210 kills and collected 25 blocks to form an imposing front line with Turner. Hebert put up strong numbers across the board (106 kills, 315 assists, 107 digs).

West St. John had its most successful season in recent memory, finishing with a 12-7 record. Deja Feist was a big part of that, a stout presence at the net whose calling card came defensively, with 50 blocks.

St. Charles Catholic’s Nicole Doming had a tremendous season in helping to lead St. Charles on a late season run back into the playoffs. Doming was the Comets’ most consistent two-way force at the net.

East St. John fed off the energy and contagious of libero Diranique Daniels all season long. Daniels finished with 350 digs.

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