By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL — St. Scholastica’s Doves continued to soar last Thursday taking a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-12) victory over District 5-II foe Salmen (6-19, 3-4).
The Doves have dominated their district opponents all season and are currently on an incredible winning streak of 20 consecutive matches running their overall record to 27-3 and 7-0 in league play.
Salmen, however, didn’t take the loss laying down as the Lady Spartans gave the Doves all they could handle particularly in the second set.
After falling 25-13 in the first set, the Lady Spartans kept it close throughout the next set never trailing by more than three. There were seven ties in the set with the last one coming at 22-22. But the Doves put together a three-point run capitalizing on Salmen errors to win 25-22.
The last set saw SSA settle back into their “A” game to cruise to a game-ending 25-12 win.
Despite their loss, Salmen had several bright spots. Kalani Brown had eight kills, three digs and two blocks. Jourdan Earhart contributed 13 digs while Lyllian Mirelez had two digs and 11 assists.
Jess Lucio led the way for the Doves collecting 10 kills, six digs and six aces with Allison Weimer picking up eight kills and two blocks. Maddie Morris contributed eight digs and three aces.
Emma Estapa guided the offense with 13 assists followed by Molly Brown with eight assists.
Dove coach Lauren Beattie, in her first year at the helm, was pleased with the win but saw where improvement is needed.
“The girls are on a great run and it’s the perfect time of the year for them to be on a run. It shows the hard work that they have put in. Give credit to Salmen. They really hustled and put some good shots down. It wasn’t our best performance but we are improving as we go.”