LAPLACE — The St. Charles Catholic volleyball team has come a long way since the season’s start, when head coach Meghan Ericksen said the priority was learning how to operate as a team built upon many new faces.

The Lady Comets are mostly built upon juniors, with underclassmen and seniors new to varsity.

Seniors Kirsten Tassin, Brooke St. Pierre and April Bourlet were tasked with stepping into leadership positions while still learning the ins and outs of the game.

Entering the week at 12-12, 2-2 in District, the Lady Comets have a new goal to break .500 and hold a winning record for the remainder of the season.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but offense and defense each have their highlights,” Ericksen said, noting the girls take direction well and demonstrated excellent gameplay against Riverside Academy, Lutcher and Ursuline.

The most impressive game was against Lutcher, which ended 25-21, 25-13, 27-25 in favor of the Lady Comets.

However, there is room for improvement in teamwork, hitting to open spots on the court and finishing strong.

“We’re hitting, but we are hitting right to the players,” Ericksen said. “We can’t earn any points that way. We still have some trouble with communication as well, and we might as well be giving up the game to the other team when we lose points that way.”

The team is still building its culture, which Ericksen said is shaping up to include a “no tolerance” policy for unconstructive criticism.

“They don’t let other people get on them when they make a mistake, but they can take direction from me and turn the game around.”

St. Charles plays an away game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against St. James High.