By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

With a win over visiting White Castle Thursday night, West St. John would need only one more district win in its last two district matches to lock up a berth in the state volleyball tournament.

But instead, the Bulldogs kept their own playoff hopes alive.

White Castle’s Bryanshel Gibson had nine aces and four blocks to lead her team to a 25-20, 31-33, 25-17, 25-14 win at West St. John.

The win pulled White Castle (11-4, 3-3) within a game of the Rams (9-9, 4-2), who are currently second place in District 3-V.

“I told the team, it’s do or die tonight,” said White Castle Coach Tammy Pierce. “We knew we needed this one if we were going to contend. It meant our season.”

The Rams came out on top a little over two weeks ago when the two teams faced off at White Castle, but West St. John Coach Glenda Rush didn’t feel like her team played with the same fire this time — and she sensed it early.

“A coach can always tell when her girls are off,” Rush said. “I know they have it in them to be great. But everyone has an off night. Like I told them, even Michael Jordan had his off nights.”

Kyla Morris led West St. John with 40 digs, three kills and five blocks. Shanea Julien had 35 digs and three blocks.

After dropping the first game, the Rams battled back in the second in a game neither team was willing to let go. After a 25-25 tie, the teams traded points until West St. John finally pulled out a 33-31 victory.

But it wasn’t the momentum builder Rush hoped it would be, and WSJ seemed to fall flat in the final two games, falling behind early in each.

“Even though that second game was a battle, I just know my girls. They weren’t playing with the same kind of spirit we’ve had throughout district,” Rush said.

“We weren’t covering right,” said Malana Farnell, who had 33 digs and an ace for WSJ in the match. “Some of our passes, weren’t high enough, and we had some bad serves.

“We may play them again in a tiebreaker. We could still win district if we beat Ascension Catholic. So we’ve just got to win.”

Angela Brown’s crosscourt kill clinched the final point of the first game for White Castle, who finished with a five-point victory.

But neither team opened up that kind of lead in the second game, which would be the highlight of the match for the Rams — the largest lead was only three points, and the two teams seemed as though they would never let it end.

The score would veer back and forth until it was tied at 24. A Farnell ace put WSJ at game point, but White Castle answered. A Bulldogs’ return error again opened a door for WSJ, but Tyrenee Foster’s tip to the open middle of the floor tied it again at 26.

From there, the score would be tied at 27, then 28. With WSJ leading 29-28, White Castle staved off elimination when Shelby Martin scored on a block of Farnell, tying things up once more.

The Bulldogs led 31-30 and were trying to put it away when a WC return sailed just long. Julien then served an ace. Finally, Farnell and Brown each went up for a ball at the net. Farnell got more of it, and Brown’s return attempt wouldn’t make it over. West St. John took a 33-31 win.

But White Castle wouldn’t fade after the tough loss. Two Gibson aces helped propel the Bulldogs to a 6-0 lead in the third game. Morris scored on a tip and a kill to help generate four straight Ram points to make it 6-4, but White Castle scored the next three.

The Rams’ best chance to take the lead came after White Castle led 13-9. WSJ scored three straight points, a Farnell tip making it 13-12.

But White Castle took the next five points to go ahead 18-12. It wasn’t a contest after that.

The final game began in a similar fashion. White Castle went ahead 9-2, and never led by less than five. With the lead 14-9, the Bulldogs quickly extended it to 18-9 with four straight points, and wouldn’t look back.

“The last time we played they killed us with dinks,” said Pierce. “We weren’t in position to defend them the last time. We worked with them all through practice leading up to this. It might have taken them out of their strategy a bit.”

RAMS TOP ASCENSION CATHOLIC IN FOUR: The Rams picked up a non-district win at home on Monday, topping Ascension Christian 26-24, 25-12, 21-25, 25-14.

Brittany Tuco had 15 kills and 27 digs. Morris had 30 digs, nine kills and six blocks. Alisha Batiste added two aces.

“We played a very strong overall game,” said Rush. “Everything seemed to fall into place. The girls’ serves, their digs, the plays we ran, they performed well with all of it.”

CAT SCRATCH TOURNAMENT: The Rams lost four matches at the East St. John Cat Scratch tournament this past weekend, falling to Riverside, 21-25, 24-26; Houma Christian 23-25, 21-25; St. Thomas Aquinas, 14-25, 16-25; and Ponchatoula, 21-25, 16-25.

Rush said that considering the strength of the competition, she saw a lot of positive things at the tourney.

“Those teams are all very organized, and have played together for a long time,” she said. “I thought my girls stacked up well with them.”