MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 26, 1998

RESERVE – Before the Riverside-St. Charles Catholic match Thursdayafternoon in the Lady Rebels gym, Lady Comets coach Michelle Dearmitt instructed her players to play until the whistle blows.

That advice was followed by both teams as players consistently hit the floor to keep the ball alive. In the end it was the play of Riverside’sMichelle Millet that helped the Lady Rebels take over first place in District 6-IV with a 15-13, 15-10 victory.

Millet had 17 kills and provided top defense with four blocks as the Lady Rebels improved to 2-0 in district and 16-4 overall. St. Charles Catholicfell to 20-6 overall and 1-1 in district play.

Millet, along with fellow seniors Courtney St. Amant, Tanya Teague andAmanda Roussel, was honored before their final home game. Knowing thatit was their final home game added even more motivation against their traditional rivals.

“We practiced hard all week,” Millet said. “We were pumped up before thegame.”The Lady Rebels took that momentum into the first game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on two kills by Millet and one by Jennifer Smith. St. CharlesCatholic came back behind their big hitter, Shannon Dolive, who had a kill and a block to tie the score. Two Riverside errors put the Lady Comets ontop.

After Dolive and Roussel traded aces, three Riverside errors gave the Lady Comets a 9-4 lead. But the Lady Rebels began to rally on their next twoserves. Two kills and a block by Millet brought the Lady Rebels to withinone before St. Charles Catholic used a timeout. After the break in theaction, Smith had a block and a kill and Millet added another kill to put the Lady Rebels ahead, 12-9.

St. Charles Catholic bounced back to take a 13-12 lead on a dink by MarciMartin. Riverside tied the score on a Lady Comets error and a serve later,took the game on a kill by Millet and a hit into the net by Dolive.

The Lady Comets jumped ahead 2-1 in the second game behind a block by Dolive and a kill by Sarah Weber before the Lady Rebels began to pull away.

Two Lady Comet errors, a kill by St. Amant and an ace by Guidry put theLady Rebels ahead 5-2.

That lead would continue to grow on Riverside’s next serve on a dink by Millet and an ace by St. Amant. Smith’s kill attempt was then blocked outof bounds, giving the Lady Rebels a 10-2 lead.

The Lady Comets began to chip away at the deficit, using two Riverside errors, a block by Nicole Rome and a spike by Nicole Scontrino to close to with four.

Riverside came right back on an ace inside the left corner by Lindsey Cox and a Lady Comet error to stretch the lead back to 13-7.

St. Charles Catholic pulled to within three on two kills by Dolive but couldnot get closer as the Lady Rebels broke two serves. Millet then delivered akill to the back line and Teague followed with an ace to give the Lady Rebels the match.

“I know every time we play St. Charles it is going to be fast so we have toget back and do anything not to let the ball hit the ground,” Riverside coach Gina Centanni said.

“It is sweet victory but we are not going to over-celebrate it. We aregoing to celebrate tonight but tomorrow it is back to business. This isjust half of district.”The two teams meet again in the second round at St. Charles Catholic. Thegame has been moved up a day to Monday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. Both teams alsohave games left against West St. John.Dearmitt said it was a typical game for the team, falling behind and then bouncing back.

“We couldn’t block today,” Dearmitt said. “We had our serve and receive,we just couldn’t block. I am disappointed. We didn’t step up and play to ourabilities and capabilities.”Dolive led the Lady Comets with nine kills and was also the top defender with three blocks. Cristin Clement added two aces.

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher