By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
PEARL RIVER — The Lady Rebels of Pearl River have been starting most of their matches very slowly and have been falling behind.
The same was true Wednesday in their match with Hammond as the Rebels started all three sets behind.
But thanks to some consistent play, the Lady Rebels found their rhythm to pull out the 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-14) win over the Hammond Lady Tors that took place at the Rebel gym.
When asked about the slow starts this year, Rebel coach Courtney Labourdette was quick to respond.
“That’s the way we have started matches all year. We start slow but fortunately we find our rhythm quickly and have been getting good results. We were fortunate today to come out on top.”
The first set was the closest of the match with Pearl River falling behind early but coming back strong. The game was tied up eight times until the Rebels put together an 8-0 run midway through the set to take the victory.
The second set was close as well with 10 ties but thanks to some superb service line hits the Rebels closed the Tors out.
The third and final set saw the Rebels hitting the ball with authority.
Brittnei Alvarez took over and served nine, consecutive winners to put Pearl River up 17-7. Two more six-point runs propelled the Rebels to the win.
“Brittnei and Hannah Johnson both stepped up with their setting and serving today,” said Labourdette.
Johnson and Alvarez each had four aces while Alvarez also collected eight digs. Alicia Bianchini had four kills.
With the win, Pearl River moves to 9-2 on the season while Hammond falls to 3-7 overall and 0-2 in District 4-I. The Rebels open their District 5-III play Wednesday with a road trip to Loranger while Hammond takes on district foe Mandeville.
Lady Rebels defeat Varnado
Pearl River looked strong in besting Varnado 3-0 (25-5, 25-11, 25-11) at the Rebel gym.
The Lady Rebels put Varnado away quickly by playing great team volleyball.
“We served well and we are contributing to play as a team,” said Pearl River coach Courtney Labourdette.
Coming up big for the Rebels were Abby Mayfield with seven kills and nine aces while Hannah Johnson pounded 13 aces.