By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE—West St. John is off to its best start in quite some time on the volleyball court.
The Rams moved to 8-2 this week with a pair of sweeps, besting rival St. James Tuesday, 25-16, 25-12 and 25-8 Tuesday and then Family Christian on Wednesday, 25-10, 25-12 and 25-16.
Each was a road victory for West St. John, both in non-district play.
Kaieonne Sorapuru served 19 aces and Brittany August served 10 in the win over St. James. Sydnei Young added five aces and two kills.
“We scrimmaged them over the summer and (St. James) has gotten better since then,” said West St. John coach Glenda Rush. “But our girls had an answer for what they were doing.’
“This is the best start we’ve had in awhile. The exciting thing is that this team is so young, these girls should all be back for one or two more years for the most part.”
Against Family Christian, August again served 10 aces. Sorapuru made five kills and five digs. Young had six kills and a pair of blocks.
Rush credited her team’s commitment and the work the players have put in on their own time to why a team stacked with youth has arrived ahead of schedule.
“It’s also confidence,” said Rush. “That’s always been something I’ve had to work to pull out of the girls on our teams. This group is more skillful and when they play like they realize it, they can be very tough to beat.’
“They’re still learning how to read plays and the weaknesses of the other team. So it’s exciting to think of what they can do once that part of the game comes.”
The Rams will play a couple of local foes next week. A rematch with St. James is set for Tuesday in Edgard, then Wednesday the Rams will head to LaPlace to face St. Charles Catholic.
“The girls get a little more excited for those games because they’re familiar with those players and teams,” said Rush. “We played St. Charles in the jamboree and we played all three, losing in the last one. It was a good match and hopefully we’ll see another.”