By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

It wasn’t quite as easy as “St. Charles in three” makes it sound, but the Comets remained undefeated in district play Thursday with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 win over visiting Port Allen.

The defending 6-III champions, the Comets have yet to lose a district match over the past two seasons under Coach Brandy Ryan. They are a win over Plaquemine away from sweeping the first round of district play this season.

But while St. Charles (6-5, 3-0) rolled over Port Allen with ease a year ago in two matches, the Pelicans engaged the Comets in some back-and-forth play in each of Thursday’s three games.

“I’ve gotta give them credit,” said Ryan of the opposition. “They were coached well. They’re very organized, and gave us a run for our money.”

Although the Pelicans never shrunk from the challenge, each game followed a distinct pattern. The teams would trade points early on, but around its middle portion SCC would establish a lead and hold on.

St. Charles’ Taylor Duhe said she and her teammates had to account for the Pelicans’ court coverage.

“They’re a very quick team,” Duhe said. “We tip the ball a lot, and they’re able to pick it up.”

It was Duhe up to serve when the match hit a turning point. After St. Charles took the first game, Port Allen jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the second. Ryan called a time out, and the Comets collected themselves.

They regrouped so well, in fact, that once Duhe was done serving, SCC had itself a 13-10 lead. A Duhe kill sparked the run, but more importantly, six of her match-high 10 aces sustained it.

“Taylor really focused on her serves. She did really well,” Ryan said.

A Courtney Western tip put St. Charles ahead 21-17 later, and Duhe served another ace to extend the lead to 22-17. Port Allen rallied to get within three, 24-21, but the Comets finished the game with a final score.

Aces by the Pelicans’ Cobie Binder and Brittany Leick pushed Port Allen ahead 9-8 in the early going of the third match. But A kill by the Comets’ Meg Gustafson helped start a run of seven straight SCC points. St. Charles led by four or more until Siedda Herbert’s kill brought Port Allen within two, 18-16.

But two scores on tips by Jaymie Remondet and an ace by Kadie Levatino helped push the lead to 23-17. Duhe would close the match out with a pair of aces to send the Comets to their fourth district win.

Duhe said finishing strong with her serves has been something of a focus.

“Sometimes, I get so energetic when I’m up there and I send it right into the net,” said Duhe. “It just made me so happy to finish the game on my serves.”

Gustafson finished with seven kills. Western had 22 assists. Remondet tallied nine digs.

It was the second district win of the week for St. Charles, who travel to Brusly earlier this week and came away with a win, 25-17, 25-16, 25-17.

Ryan was happy with the result, but not the way it was achieved – she felt like her team didn’t play up to their capabilities.

“We went through the motions. That can’t continue,” Ryan said.