CANTON - It appears as if Lassiter may have found a suitable replacement for Taylor Montgomery, as the former standout at middle hitter begins her collegiate career at Howard University.

Junior Chrissy Ricketts made big plays at big moments against St. Pius X on the front row during pool play of the Sequoyah Classic Invitational on Friday at Creekview High School. Her biggest moment came on Lassiter's first and only game point in the opener when she came through with a solo block.

Ricketts' block stemmed Lassiter's momentum, and the Lady Trojans went on to sweep the match with scores of 25-23 and 25-15.

The Lady Trojans finished the evening 2-0 after beating host Creekview (25-10, 25-8) in their previous match.

"I wasn't expecting where the ball was going to go, but I thought wherever it went, I had to block it," said Ricketts, who finished with four kills and 3.5 blocks. "That's what I stuck my mind to, and that's what I did. I think it got everyone really excited, and everyone had a lot of energy."

Ricketts converted three of her four kills in the second game. She came through with back-to-back kills on Emily Weissert's serve after Lassiter trailed, 4-1, and came through with a block assist to tie it.

A pair of St. Pius X errors then gave Lassiter a 6-4 lead and the Lady Trojans cruised from that point on.

Katy McCollister led Lassiter with nine kills. Emily Weissert contributed with 19 assists and Melissa Woodall added seven digs.

Beating St. Pius X, the Class AAA power, was important since Lassiter trailed by five points early in the first game.

"I was really pleased the way we came back in the first (game)," Lassiter coach Greg Hodge said. "We got down early, and it looked like we were playing uneasy and a little skiddish, and I thought we started to play. We started hitting the ball and put pressure on them. We blocked well and hit the ball hard."

Lassiter started pulling away in the second game after staking a 9-7 lead. Two St. Pius X penalties, sandwiched around an error, opened a five-point Lassiter lead.

St. Pius X cut the lead back to three points, but a long service run by Rachel Jenkins gave Lassiter the cushion it needed. A kill by Ricketts gave the Lady Trojans a 19-12 lead and they never looked back.

A kill by McCollister gave Lassiter match point before McCollister and Arndt blocked a St. Pius X attack to end the match.

"We have some size up front this year," Hodge said. "Obviously, we're looking to replace Taylor Montgomery. Chrissy stepped up big (Friday), Becca Arndt stepped up and so did Carly Crowder. We had some good height, they stepped up, and we'll hoping to do that for the rest of the season."

In their opening match against Creekview, a Class AAA semifinalist last seasons, the Lady Trojans were aided by 16 unforced errors. Six errors by Creekview in the first 11 points of the match opened a 9-2 Lassiter lead.

Lassiter allowed Creekview to win just one point on serve in the opening game, and that came during the last three points.

After Creekview rallied from an 8-1 advantage in the second game to cut the lead to 9-6, the Lady Trojans won 16 of the next 18 points to seal the victory.

McCollister led with five kills against Creekview, while Arndt and Crowder tied with four.

Lassiter will close pool play today with Alpharetta at 11 a.m. and east Cobb rival Wheeler at 2 p.m. before awaiting its fate for bracket play.