RESERVE — The Riverside Academy Lady Rebels (19-11) ended a week of tournaments and district games with a 3-0 victory Thursday against the St. James Lady Wildcats.

The overwhelming three-match win — 25-10, 25-15 and 25-16 — gave the Lady Rebels a confidence boost to motivate them for their last district games for the season next week.

“St. James was an important district win for us,” Riverside Academy head volleyball coach Margot Frederick said. “Next week, we play Thomas Jefferson on Monday and we finish our district play against Haynes on Tuesday.”

The Lady Rebels spent last weekend honing their skills at the Lutcher Tournament, defeating three of the five teams they played.

RA’s first match of the tournament was against the St. Charles Catholic Lady Comets. Riverside pulled off a 2-0 win with scores of 25-18 and 25-10.

The Lady Rebels’ next victory came at the hands of Pearl River by scores of 25-22 and 25-22.

Riverside pulled off their third win against St. Thomas Aquinas, 25-19 and 25-21.

The Lady Rebels couldn’t secure wins against Central Baton Rouge High School or Ascension Episcopal High School, losing 0-2 to both teams with scores 15-25, 17-25 and 20-25, 23-25, respectively.

“We did pretty well at the tournament last weekend,” Frederick said. “We beat the teams we needed to beat and we lost to the two teams that were the best teams at the tournament. They came in first and second, and those were our only losses. I thought that we got better and we learned a lot. Playing better teams is always good for us.”

The Lady Rebels suffered a 3-1 loss Tuesday at the hands of John Curtis Christian.

“With John Curtis, we were leading the first set 18-13 and then ended up losing,” Frederick said. “Overall, we played really composed and really mature. It was the first time all year that I sat on the bench for a good two sets and thought, ‘Wow, they are really in control of themselves.’ I didn’t feel that I had to help them very much or I had to disrupt the flow of the game because they were in a rhythm and I knew they would side out. Curtis is just better than us. They have a pretty solid team and they are pretty talented.”

John Curtis won with 25-20, 20-25, 25-15 and 25-15.

Frederick said the Lady Rebels are ready to put the losses behind them and move on to more competition.

“We play at the Dunham Tournament in Baton Rouge this weekend,” Frederick said as of press time Friday morning. “That’s probably one of the toughest tournaments in the state. It’s going to be a good challenge for us.

“Right now, we are sixth in the power rankings. Depending on how we do this weekend, we hope to stay there. I know that we have to stay in the top eight to get a bye in the first round of the State Tournament and that’s kind of the goal.

“We need to win as much as we can. We play a tough schedule this weekend, so even if we lose, we get a third of the points from the teams that we play, which is good for us because they are all good. They’ve all been pretty successful this year.”

By Courtney Griggs