By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — After a tough start to the season, St. Charles the St. Charles volleyball team has rallied and finds itself in strong position to earn a postseason bid.

The Comets won two out of three matches this week, toppling Pope John Paul II and Donaldsonville while falling only to fifth-ranked John Curtis.

St. Charles didn’t win a match this season until winning two straight district contests in early October.

But SCC has won six matches over the past three weeks now, and given the stiff competition on its schedule, sits at No. 17 in Division IV power points. The top 24 teams make the postseason.

The Curtis match came Thursday and saw the Comets, despite losing in three games, put together a much-improved effort from their loss to the then top-ranked Patriots in LaPlace on Oct. 9. SCC fell 25-18, 25-22 and 25-16 Thursday, pushing the Lady Patriots at times in all three games.

Courtney Snyder led St. Charles (6-14, 3-4) with 16 digs and five kills. Brooke Tregre tallied 16 assists and three aces and Nicole Doming had a block.

“I think the girls played a little angry tonight,” said St. Charles coach Kristin Sullivan. “They played with some emotion … Curtis is very good at picking up a lot defensively, and we got in a rut at times. They had a very good server that helped them get on a run.”

Sullivan said that the Comets had some chances to extend the match and, at times, looked primed to.

“We hung in really well in those first two games,” said Sullivan. “Especially the second. That was back-and-forth and we led a couple of times. Our problem has been that we’ve had trouble putting away points, and we didn’t do it when we needed to in that one.”

St. Charles is scheduled to host St. James in their final district game  on Tuesday.

Stats and scores for Donaldsonville and Pope John Paul II were not available at presstime.