File photo – The Eureka girls won in straight sets on Wednesday night.

The Eureka and St. Bernard’s girls took a break from conference play to renew their rivalry on the volleyball court on Wednesday night, and the Loggers came away with a straight-sets victory.

Eureka won the match 25-15, 25-14, 25-19.

Once again, sophomore Tiarah Maualuga helped set the tone for the Loggers and finished with 12 kills and 10 digs.

Teammate Samara Gaither also impressed in the win and added nine kills and seven assists.

Overall, head coach Stephanie Napoleon was more than happy with the team performance.

“The team was able to keep the energy up and had some great plays,” the head coach said. “It’s a great group to coach.”

The St. Bernard’s girls started tentatively but grew into the game.

“Our athletes played hard, but we were a bit quiet on the court initially,” Crusaders head coach Rachel Evans said. “Once they started talking their energy picked up and we started to score more.”

Multi-sport standout Sahara Tupua had another big game for the Crusaders at libero and finished with a game-high 20 digs.

The junior standout has impressed her coach this fall.

“Sahara Tupua has really come into her own as libero,” Evans said. 

Jocelyn Sundberg also impressed for the Little 5 school and “was a force at the net,” according to her coach, finishing with 12 kills and adding 11 digs.

File photo – The St. Bernard’s Crusaders

Ella Hart also had 11 digs, four assists and three kills for SB.

Eureka’s Baylie Battle did a good job setting her teammates up for success and dished out 20 assists to go with a pair of aces, while Alena Battle finished with six kills and a block.

Rounding out a good all-around team performance for the Loggers, Macy Perkins had three kills and three aces, Bella Hunt had nine digs and two aces, and Giselle Salas added an ace.

The Eureka JVs also won their match against the Crusaders in straight sets, including taking a thrilling second set by a score of 28-26 to secure the victory.

St. Bernard’s, which clinched at least a share of this year’s Little 5 championship with a victory over Northcoast Prep earlier in the week, will have a bye in conference play on Thursday before closing out their conference campaign against South Fork on Tuesday.

The Eureka girls will resume Big 5 play on Thursday night when they travel to play Fortuna.