By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Sydnei Young logged 14 kills while Dmyriah Herbert added 13 more to lead West St. John back to the win column Thursday, the Rams notching a 25-23, 25-15, 23-25 and 25-23 non-district victory over Belaire in a competitive home match.
Maya Trench made eight kills while Kaieonne Sorapuru made six kills and five digs.
“We’ve been needing our hitters to get their timing down, and that started happening tonight,” said Rush. “We need them to finish plays and they started making those kinds of kills tonight.”
The Rams trailed by eight early in the first game before turning things around.
“Belaire has a well-organized team. We had to calm down at the beginning,” said West St. John coach Glenda Rush. “I thought Brittany (August) started running the offense well from the setter spot, and that changed the momentum a good bit. After we fell behind so quickly, it looked like they might take that first one, but we used some timeouts and started playing smarter.”
Rush said the Rams (10-5) made some on-court adjustments that impacted the offense positively.
“We started dinking it more and we found some open spots in their defense,” said Rush. “A lot of the time, when we start slow, the difference comes down to recognizing what they’re giving us.”
Rush said the back and forth final game was a nice test of her team’s resolve.
“We fought off that loss in the third game and came out on top,” said Rush. “I’m very proud of them.”
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RAMS FALL IN DISTRICT PLAY — West St. John fell Tuesday on the road, coming up short against Houma Christian, a 25-14, 25-17, 24-26, 25-22 winner in District 6-V action.
“They were a well-oiled machine,” said Rush. “Houma Christian doesn’t have the same kind of hitters as a Central Catholic … Central Catholic has some killers as far as hitting. But they’re exceptionally well coached defensively and fundamentally. They’re a fast-moving team and that’s always a tough matchup for anyone.”
The loss dropped West St. John to 0-3 in district play.
West St. John has three matches upcoming, including two district clashes. A non-district contest at Warren Easton kicks off the week on Monday. The Rams will travel to Covenant Christian for a district rematch Tuesday and then will host Houma Christian Thursday.
West St. John and Covenant Christian went to five games in their first meeting this season.