Northlake Christian School took the first step in defending its Division V state title at home Monday, knocking off the Ascension Christian School Lady Lions, 25-6, 25-4, 25-9, in the bi-district round of the state playoffs.

Third-seeded NCS (27-12) will take on the sixth-seeded Delcambre Lady Panthers in the Pontchartrain Center at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Ascension Christian finished its first season in the LHSAA with a 7-18 record.

NCS'€™ Hannah Miranda (7) goes up for a kill as Ascension Christian'€™s Krystal Braud (00) attempts to block it during Monday'€™s bi-district match held at NCS. Also shown for the Lady Wolverines is Mary Wilson (11). (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

The Lady Wolverines were led by Brittany Scearce, who pounded 13 kills and served three aces.

“The last five days of my junior year volleyball season, I’m just ready to finish strong and win,” Scearce said.

Northlake Christian trailed just once (1-0 in the third game) in a match the Lady Wolverines dominated.

In the first game NCS got out to a 2-0 lead, but a Lady Wolverine serve that hit the net gave Ascension Christian its first point. Then NCS went on a 6-0 run to make it 8-1 behind the serving of Emily Miller.

After the Lady Lions scored, Scearce pounded a kill to make it 9-2. The Lady Wolverines had the score at 11-4 when a kill by Hannah Miranda and an ace from Hannah Miller made it 13-4.

NCS ended the contest on a 12-2 spurt in a 25-6 win.

The second game was all Northlake Christian. In fact, Ascension Christian’s four points came on Lady Wolverines’ serving errors, two that hit the net and two that went out of bounds.

Northlake Christian jumped out to a 7-0 lead as Monica Raymond began with a pair of aces and tallied six for the match.

Raymond had a serve go out of bounds for the Lady Lions’ first point. Then Scearce recorded a kill to make it 8-1, beginning a 13-0 spurt. Miranda recorded one of her six aces during the run.

Ascension Christian earned a side-out on an out-of-bounds serve.

The teams exchanged points to make it 22-3, and NCS went on to win, 25-4.

The Lady Wolverines got out to a 5-1 advantage, but the Lady Lions went on a 3-2 run, highlighted by a kill and an ace from Krystal Braud.

NCS had a 7-4 lead until Scearce posted another kill, which began a 10-0 run and upped the Lady Wolverines’ advantage to 17-4.

Ascension Christian fought back to make it 18-6, but Northlake Christian was too much for the Lady Lions in a 25-9 win.

“It sets the atmosphere. That’s how we approach it,” NCS coach Michelle Anderson said. “It’s one of four that we have to win, so now we can cross one off.”