MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 16, 1998

KENNER – Episcopal of Baton Rouge overcame a late Riverside rally to eliminate the Lady Rebels from the state quarterfinals with a 15-9, 16- 14 victory Thursday morning at the Pontchartrain Center.

Riverside advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history with a 15-9, 15-6 victory over Teurlings in bi-district Wednesday afternoon.

Episcopal, 24-9, fell in the semifinals against St. Martin’s Friday morning.Riverside, the District 5-IV runners-up, completed its season at 20-9.

Episcopal scored seven unanswered points to take an 8-3 lead in the second game. Rebecca Schulte had a kill, Kim Kelsoe a tip and CaraHartman served three consecutive aces to give the Lady Knights a 6-3 lead. The lead would grow to 8-3 on an ace by Lesley Newell beforeRiverside called a timeout. After an ace by Michelle Millet, Episcopal cameback with a Riverside error and a kill by Monica Price to extend its lead to 10-4.

With their season on the line, the Lady Rebels began to bounce back with Lindsey Cox serving. Two Episcopal errors cut the deficit to four.Following a timeout, two errors by Episcopal and a dink by Jennifer Guidry brought the Lady Rebels to within 10-9. Three serves later, Riversidewould take its first lead of the match at 12-11 on a block and a kill by Millet and an error on Episcopal.

After the Lady Rebels went up by two on a dink by Amie Graugnard, Episcopal rallied to tie the score on a kill by Price and a block by Kelsoe.

Riverside got to game point on an ace by Graugnard but the Lady Knights held off two serves and tied the score on a kill by Kelsoe. Schulte thenended the match with two kills.

It was Riverside that took a 6-1 lead in the first game on two aces by Tanya Teague, a kill by Millet and three Episcopal errors. After a block byAmanda Roussel brought the lead to 7-2, however, Episcopal took the lead with seven unanswered points. Dinks by Newell and Ashley Freeman andtwo Riverside errors cut the lead to one. Three Riverside errors after atimeout gave the Lady Knights a 9-7 lead.

Riverside would pull back to within 11-9 on a block by Jennifer Smith and an Episcopal error, but the Lady Knights answered with a kill by Hartman and two Lady Rebel errors to get to game point. Price delivered an ace forthe game winner.

Millet led Riverside with four kills, eight digs and two blocks. Graugnardalso had two blocks with Brandi Falgoust contributing 12 assists and Teague two aces.

“They fought hard,” Riverside coach Gina Centanni said of her Lady Rebels.

“They wanted it. In the first game, we let our mistakes overwhelm us.They realized it was do or die in the second game. They could have foldedbut they didn’t. I am real proud of them for doing that. “It was a great season. I told the girls days ago I was proud to be theircoach. I couldn’t have asked for more from them. They always gave 100percent.” Riverside, who was knocked out of the state playoffs by Teurlings last year, got revenge on the defending state runners-up Wednesday afternoon.

After taking the first game, Riverside carried the momentum over into the second game. The Lady Rebels jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the game,scoring five straight points with Guidry serving. Millet had three kills anda spike and Smith added a block during the run.

Teurlings rallied to pull to within 6-4, but Riverside answered with an 8- 0 run, using two dinks and a kill by Millet to extend its lead back to eight.

The Lady Rebels then got to 14-4 on a dink by Millet and a spike by Falgoust. A Teurlings error gave the Lady Rebels the winning point threeserves later.

“We were not really intimidated,” Millet said. “We came out and playedour best. It was a bit different than last year. We were calmer and knewwhat to expect.”

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