MINDEN - The Carson volleyball team had its fair share of promising moments against rival Douglas Tuesday night, even leading early on in each of the three games.
What it all boiled down to, though, was a lack of confidence.
The Senators committed a total of seven errors down the stretch in the last two games as Douglas powered ahead to a 25-15, 25-20, 25-20 win in Minden.
"We're right there, but when you look at it, it boils down to avoidable mistakes," Carson coach Justin Malley said. "If we can change three plays in there, we are looking at a 23-20 lead in either of those last two games.
"Just simple, avoidable mistakes that are really not acceptable for the level of players we have. Those last two games we lost because of confidence. Douglas has it and we don't."
After Carson jumped out to a 6-4 lead to open the match, Douglas shifted the momentum to its attack and cruised through the end of the game, allowing only one more earned point from the Senators. The remaining nine Carson points in the game came on Douglas errors.
"Douglas is a good team," Malley said. "They fought off a lot of stuff and kept a lot of balls in play. And it wasn't just keeping the ball in play, it was getting attacks out of balls."
Douglas looked as though it was on its way to another easy win in game two, building an 18-13 lead before Carson put together a 3-1 run sparked by a stuff block and two kills from Jeanette Vansickle.
Carson further narrowed the gap to 22-20 on a Vansickle ace and a Douglas error, but Douglas capitalized on a pair of Carson errors to close out the game.
It was nearly an identical scenario for the Senators in game three as the teams were tied at 19 heading into the final stretch.
Among the other highlights for Carson was the blocking of Tiana McAllister-Diggs and Elysse Virden.
Douglas rode an ace from Brenna White, a kill from Erin Allison and four Carson errors to close out the match.
"Athletically, we match up well with Douglas," Malley said. "When it comes to execution, we don't match up as well. We're right there, it was just the avoidable mistakes."