By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — Riverside moved to 4-0 in district play Tuesday and stands alone in first place after its first round after downing Donaldsonville in three games, 25-4, 25-9 and 25-3.

Katie Bailey had seven aces for Riverside. Toni Hebert had nine assists and six aces. Shelby Deslatte had 23 digs and Danielle Sharp had five kills.

Riverside coach Briget Melancon said after an undefeated run through the first round of district, she’s comfortable with her team’s focus level.

“It’s very settling,” said Melancon. “You’re going into the second round without having to win all four now. Certainly, we want to win all of them, but I think it says a lot about our team. They handled themselves well, played with intensity and did what we needed to do to put ourselves in a good situation.”

Melancon said that key to the Rebels’ recent success has been its ability to dictate tempo and not deviate from its gameplan.

“We’ve focused on our strengths and through this entire stretch, they’re refusing to settle,” she said. “They’ve played every game on an emotional high, and played every game the way we want to and need to play. We’ve been very balanced throughout our lineup.”

Thursday saw the Rebels fall in three games in a non-district contest to Central Catholic, 25-10, 25-20 and 25-20.

Central Catholic is the top ranked team in Class 1A in terms of power points.

Hebert had nine assists for Riverside. Erica Delauneville had three blocks. Deslatte had 23 digs and Sharp had seven kills. Bailey added two aces.

“They’re a very strong team,” Melancon said. “One of the first we’ve seen that’s not only strong in terms of serving and serve receive, but also a big team with offense. We didn’t walk out feeling like we’d been blown away and I think the last two games were more a reflection of how we competed, but these are the types of teams we’ll see in the playoffs. And I think our players know that.

“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. There’s still potential there.”