By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

RESERVE — In the midst of her third season as Riverside volleyball coach, Chelsey Lucas-Nicholas isn’t used to her team being swept on its home floor, the Rebels a two-time state semifinalist under her watch.

But the Rebels couldn’t avoid such a fate Tuesday. District foe John Curtis earned its second victory of the season over Riverside, winning in three games, 25-18, 25-12 and 25-15.

Lucas-Nicholas was optimistic before the match her team could bounce back from an earlier sweep at Curtis’ hand in River Ridge. But though Curtis made mistakes, Lucas-Nicholas mused, the Rebels just made too many more.

“(The Patriots) didn’t play their best game,” Lucas-Nicholas said. “But we came out and made unforced errors. We gave it right back to them. Right off the bat, you can’t beat a team like (Curtis) if you’re giving away points.”

TyJah Greenup had nine kills for the Rebels (19-11, 3-2). Hailee Eldridge had four blocks and six kills. Abby Bourgeois had 19 assists. Briley Becker had 11 digs.

For Curtis, Sarah Drake had seven kills, four digs and eight aces. Tatiana Bell had eight kills. Toni Hebert had eight assists and two aces. Carsyn Wallow had five kills.

Drake served an early ace in the opening game to give the Patriots an early boost. A cluster of Rebel return errors helped JCC to an early 8-1 and then a 13-4 edge.

Kills by Becker, Greenup and Eldridge each slammed down kills to help the Rebels cut the Curtis lead to four, 18-14. A Becker block made it a 22-18 Curtis lead, but the Patriots closed out from there, Layne Estes putting down a kill for the 25th and final point.

The Patriots dominated the second game. Estes collected four kills during an 8-0 Curtis run that made it 18-6. Bell spiked home two of her team’s final three points for the 25-12 victory.

An early Eldridge block coupled with a spike helped the Rebels get off to a positive start in the third set. But with the score tied at 9, Carsyn Wallow’s spike kickstarted an 11-0 run that put the game — and the match — away for good. Wallow had three kills in the run, while Sarah Drake served an ace.

“Too many times, we have a game plan like we had today, and we become undisciplined and stray away from it,” Lucas-Nicholas said. “It comes with being a young team.

“They gave us chances to make this a match and we didn’t take advantage.”

Riverside returns to action at home in non-district play Tuesday, Northlake Christian visiting Reserve with the J.V. game beginning at 4:30 p.m. Varsity will follow.

Then, Thursday, Riverside will host district foe Haynes, J.V. action again beginning at 4:30.