By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL — In triple-header volleyball action last Saturday, Salmen hosted a round robin of sorts as the Lady Spartans, the Pearl River Lady Rebels and the Lady Eagles of First Baptist Christian met to play each other.
In the first match it was Pearl River against Salmen where the Lady Rebels defeated the Spartans 3-0 (25-24, 25-23, 25-12).
The first two sets were action packed. The first set saw the Spartans come from behind to tie it up at 24 all before Pearl River closed it out for the win and he second set saw 10 ties with one being at 23-23. But the Lady Rebs held on for the 25-23 win.
Pearl River sailed through the third set with no difficulty to take the match.
“The girls really stepped up and found their rhythm,” said Rebel coach Courtney Labourdette.
For Salmen, Breanna Freeman had seven kills, three digs and one ace while Jourdan Earhart had nine digs and one ace. Taylor Alonzo collected three kills, two digs and one ace with Lyllian Mirelez picking up two digs and 13 assists.
Brooke Heinz had 16 digs for the Rebels while Brittnei Alvarez had 14 and Sierra St. Pierre had 10 digs.
In the second match Pearl River fell to First Baptist Christian 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-14, 25-15).
Lady Eagle Jackie Fredericks came up big collecting 19 kills, two digs and six aces. Also having a good match was Madison Jones with seven digs and Olivia Gaudin with five kills.
For Pearl River Brooke Heinz picked up 12 digs with Alvarez contributing seven. Abby Mayfield had six blocks and nine kills while Hannah Johnson had five blocks and 14 assists.
“We didn’t play our game and we had too many mistakes,” Rebel coach Labourdette said.
In the third and final match of the day First Baptist Christian won its second of the day against Salmen 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-15).
Fredericks led the Lady Eagles again with 16 kills, and seven aces with Gaudin picking up two kills and Jones with one dig and one ace.
“The girls played really hard today,” said Eagle coach Brett Hederman. “We’ve been working hard on eliminating some of our mistakes and I think it paid off today. Our ball control was better and I’m proud of their effort.”
Freeman had five digs, five blocks and four kills for the Spartans. Aaliyah Garrett had 11 digs and Earhart picked up 17 digs and three aces. Mirelez had seven assists, two kills and two digs.
“We were without Kalani (Brown) today so we got to see what our future will look like,” said Salmen coach Kyle Cahill. “From what I saw today I think our future looks good.”
FBC beats Martin Luther King Charter
The Lady Eagles from First Baptist Christian continued their undefeated, District 7-V season with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-9) thrashing of Martin Luther King Charter last week on the road.
Despite an overall record of 8-9, the Eagles are 3-0 in district play.
Jackie Frederick’s 18 kills and six aces helped propel First Baptist Christian to the win.
FBC beats Varnado
First Baptist Christian added another notch to their belt sweeping Varnado 3-0 (25-8, 25-7, 25-11) in a District 7-V contest.
The Lady Eagles breezed through the three set match to continue unbeaten (4-0) in the district race and 9-9 overall.
Varnado continues to struggle falling to 1-12 overall and 1-3 in the league race.
Leading the attack was Jackie Fredericks with nine kills and seven aces. Olivia Gaudin had three kills and four aces while Leanna Huffman produced two kills and one ace.
Rounding out the effort were Katelin LaFollette with two kills with Lauren Thirstrup leading the offense with 18 assists and one kill.