Fallon sophomore Megan McCormick tries to save the ball during Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Truckee at the Elmo Dericco Gym.
The avalanche of mistakes started early and drowned the Fallon volleyball team Tuesday at the Elmo Dericco Gym.
Taking advantage of 29 hitting errors were the Truckee Wolverines, who led by Mackenzie Redner, swept the Lady Wave 25-8, 25-19, 25-15, in a Northern Division I-A matchup.
Redner killed Fallon, as the senior pounded out 24 kills, 12 digs and three aces. Setting up Redner, though, was Chelsea Mohun, who tallied 31 assists.
“We defeat ourselves,” Fallon coach Patty Daum said. “We had more errors tonight than we had kills (15). Instead of playing one team, we end up playing one team and ourselves.”
Truckee’s attack, though, was aided by an ineffective Fallon offense as the Lady Wave struggled to find any rhythm. Truckee rolled past Fallon in the first set as the Wolverines jumped out to a 13-5 lead and did not look back.
Redner paired with Elizabeth Costa — who did not play last year — in the middle to frustrate Fallon’s attack. Defensively, Fallon was able to dig its way out of several long rallies, but failed to maintain any momentum. Juniors Evan Matheson and Ali Tedford and sophomore Megan McCormick combined for seven blocks, but the transition to offense was erratic.
But the inconsistent hitting was too much for Fallon to overcome.
“We would serve them out of system, but wouldn’t be ready for their third contact,” Daum said. “We just mentally checked out.”
Truckee’s defense, meanwhile, countered with Lauren Peak and Tori Simpson, who combined for 31 digs and provided a smooth transition to the attack.
“I told my girls the defense (Fallon’s) is going to be awesome,” Truckee coach Erika Murphy said. “I think to prepare for this week, I don’t think we worked on offense.”
In the second set, Fallon stood tall against the Wolverines before Truckee broke away late in the game. An aces by Tedford cut Truckee’s lead to 14-13, but Peak rattled off two points on her serve and Redner hammered home three kills to put the set away.
The third set was more of the same as Fallon would get close, but the Wolverines would rip off several points to squash any hope of a rally. Redner closed out the match with three consecutive points.
“Their passing on serve-receive is what I felt like gave us our advantage,” Murphy said.