It's a good thing that style points aren't awarded in volleyball because Carson High would have been in trouble on Tuesday.
Despite being in a match with fourth on the line in the Sierra League, the Senators didn't play with a sense or urgency against Wooster, but still managed to win 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20 at Morse Burley Gym.
The two teams came into the last match of the first round tied for fourth at 3-3, and since only four teams from the Sierra League advance to the Northern 4A playoffs, the importance of the match was obvious.
"Not a lot of style points, that's exactly right," Carson coach Shana Wilkins said. "That's a great way to put it."
Carson may have been caught looking ahead to the league's top team in Reno High, which stayed unbeaten in league with a win over Douglas on Tuesday. The Senators will host Reno on Thursday.
"I couldn't tell you," said Wilkins when asked if her team was looking ahead. "We're still struggling with playing as a team.
"This was an important match. You'd think we would have played with a lot more intensity."
If not for three Wooster service errors giving Carson three points, the Senators may very well have lost game three. Down 7-6, Carson appeared to take control when it went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-7 lead. Nikki Keller served for seven of the points during the run.
But Wooster answered with a 10-2 run to take a 17-16 lead. After Wooster's second service error, Blaike King served for an ace to give Carson an 18-17 lead. Danae Eckart's kill gave Carson a 20-18 lead, but Wooster went on to take a 22-21 lead.
The Senators took advantage of Wooster's final service error to score the last four points. Keller had a quick hit for a kill off of Shannon Earwood's set and Breanna Anderson served for an ace on game point.
Carson had to overcome a scoring error in game four. Eckart's ace should have given the Senators a 12-9 lead, but a point was incorrectly awarded to Wooster, so the Senators led just 11-10. Wooster went on to take a 13-12 lead before Carson answered with an 10-1 run to go back up 22-14. Keller served for seven straight points during the run and finished the run with two aces.
The Senators led 24-16, but allowed Wooster to come within 24-20 before Kailey Taylor's kill on match point.
Shannon Earwood had a huge night with 50 assists, eight kills, four blocks and an ace, Taylor had 10 kills, two aces and three blocks, Keller had eight kills, one ace, five digs and three blocks, Anderson had seven kills, three aces, one block and eight digs.
RENO 3, DOUGLAS 1
Reno won the showdown for first in the Sierra League, beating the Tigers 15-25, 25-21, 26-24, 26-24. Douglas (24-4) fell to 6-1 in league while Reno improved to 7-0.
Jourdan Burke had 18 kills, two aces, two blocks and six points, Bridget Maestretti had six kills, 10 blocks, four digs and two points, Melissa Brown had five kills and eight blocks, Megan Mitchell had five kills, 15 blocks, 34 assists and seven digs, Jessica Waggoner had four kills and 11 blocks, Taryn Williams had four kills, three digs and seven points, Christine DuPuis had two kills, Allie Hugues had two kills, one point and three blocks, Alyssa Todd had a kill and four blocks, Mysta Townsell had two aces, six points and 10 digs, Jordan Marsh had two aces, 15 points and nine digs and Mary Lombino added three points for Douglas.
Douglas won the junior varsity match 2-0 and the freshmen match 2-0.
CHS JVS 2, WOOSTER 0
Carson (8-2) won the junior varsity match 25-7, 25-15. Brittney Wyatt had two digs and two aces, Alexis Church had one kill and five digs Skylar Peterson had one kill and one ace, Shelby Price had two kills and two aces, Brittney Sly and Karli Dodge each had two kills, Sarah Kerkla had two kills and an ace, Natalia Pecorilla had one kill and two aces, Elizabeth Cagle had three kills and four aces and Kendra Krupp had four kills and an ace.
CHS FROSH 2, WOOSTER 0
Carson (9-1) won the freshmen match 25-10, 25-13. Jazmine Stokes had four aces and a kill, Elizabeth Bennett-Doran had five assists, Breann Perry had two aces, one kill and five assists, Makayla Drahos had five aces and five kills, Jeanette VanSickle had one kill and one block, Ashley Elliott had one kill and Elysse Virden added one block.