MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 14, 2000

LAPLACE – St. Charles Catholic began its final preparation for district playwith a 15-7, 16-14 victory over Hammond in the Comet gym Wednesday afternoon.

St. Charles Catholic (9-13) plays in the Country Day Tournament todaybefore opening District 6-III action at Lutcher Tuesday. Hammond fell to 11-3overall.

Hammond grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first game before the Lady Comets came back with consecutive aces by Heather Heltz to go ahead, 3-2.

The teams continued to trade points with the Lady Comets taking a 6-4 lead on a net violation by Hammond. The Tornadoes answered, taking a 7-6 leadbehind a kill by Andrea Alfonso.

St. Charles Catholic ended the game on a 9-0 run. Heltz opened the run withthree straight aces. After a timeout by Hammond, Brittany Vicknairdelivered a dink at the net to make it 10-7. A serve later, two aces byVicknair gave the Lady Comets a 13-7 lead. Sarah Weber closed out thegame with a kill.

It appeared the match was headed to a third game as Hammond jumped out to a 8-0 lead in game two. Two aces by Honea Busch and a kill down the leftbaseline by Amber Hebert made it 5-0. Vicknair broke the serve with a kill tothe right corner but Hammond got it right back and went ahead 7-0 on a block by Jessica Roach and an ace by Stephanie Kronlage.

After a lift call against St. Charles Catholic made it 8-0, the Lady Cometsbegan to chip into the lead. Kills by Monica Arcuri and Katie Arcuri and ace byWeber cut the deficit to three. An ace by Hebert made it 9-5 but the LadyComets came back behind two Hammond errors to make it a two-point game.

Hammond again pulled out to a four-point lead on two Lady Comets error. OnSt. Charles Catholic’s next serve, Vicknair delivered a dink that was blockedinto the net. Katie Arcuri followed with two aces, cutting the deficit to 11-10.

Two errors gave Hammond a 13-10 lead. A dink by Heltz broke the serve andKelly Cupit followed with an ace to make it 13-12. Weber then had a blockdeflected out of bounds, giving the Lady Comets their first lead of the game at 14-13. Hebert tied the game with a kill but the Lady Comets got thematch winner on a block by Weber.

Heltz led the Lady Comets with a game-high five aces. Weber and Vicknaireach had three kills with Vicknair also leading the Lady Comet defense.

Busch, Kronlage and Hebert each had two aces for Hammond. Hebert also hadthree kills and Busch was the top defender.

“We’re more ready now going into district than we were three weeks ago,” St. Charles Catholic coach Michelle Dearmitt said. “It’s going to be tough. It’snot going to be a cakewalk for anybody in district.”

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