By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Last year, St. Charles Catholic advanced in the volleyball postseason for the first time since 2008.

The Comets apparently have decided to make it a habit.

No. 13 seed SCC earned a sweep at home of Port Allen, 26-24, 25-14 and 25-15, punching its ticket to the regional round, where the Comets will travel to battle with No. 4 University.

“I think in the beginning of the match, we were a little jittery and had to fight off some nerves,” said St. Charles coach Meghan Ericksen, who earned her first postseason victory as SCC head coach. “But the rest of the way, our girls were pumped up and playing like it. I thought, team-wide, everyone did their part and helped us push forward.”

Lela Hill had seven kills and a block for SCC. Maddie Murphy had eight kills and eight assists with two aces. Grace Mohon had five kills, 11 assists and seven aces. Kaitlyn Lowry had four kills, Crysta Remondet four aces and Alyssa Arceneaux made 15 digs.

St. Charles trailed late in the first game but rallied to win, providing the fuel to propel SCC the rest of the way.

“We called a time out and I just told them, ‘You’ve shown you can fight back from being down all year long,’” Ericksen said. “’You know how to pull it together.’ Our players are resilient.”

Strong serving provided the backbone of a quality second set victory for the Comets, with Grace Mohon leading the way with seven aces in that game.

SCC went on to control the third set as well, and the Comets were officially moving on to round two.

University, Ericksen said, will have a size advantage at the net on SCC, and as such, the Comets must adjust.

“We know they’re big,” Ericksen said. “We’ll have to work on hitting around their blocks. This was a big win for us going into a game like that. I think this was a win that raised our confidence level.”

The first-year Comets coach said she was proud of her players efforts and to help be a guiding hand for their success.

“It feels great,” she said. “To see how hard they’ve worked this season, and they’re accomplishing the goals we set out for before the season. It’s great to be a part of it.”