Junior outside hitter Jaycie Roberts (5) drills one back across the net in a 3-0 win over the Damonte Ranch Mustangs Thursday night in Reno.
RENO — Turnabout is fair play.
After suffering through a home three-game sweep at the hands of Damonte Ranch back on Sept. 29, Carson’s volleyball team returned the favor Thursday night with a 26-24, 25-12, 28-26 Sierra League victory.
The Carson win leaves the teams deadlocked in second place with 9-3 records. The top two teams in each division host a first-round playoff match.
“I can say I was hoping for it,” Carson coach Robert Maw said when asked if he thought the Senators could sweep. “Jaycie (Roberts) did a great job on the court. She is playing with a lot of confidence out there. Her and Natalie (Anderson) are working well together.
“Natalie did a good job setting. She made very good choices. Abby (Pradere) and Makenzie (Tucker) played well in the back row. It was a very good win.”
Anderson had 31 assists and eight digs, while Pradere and Tucker added 14 and 10 digs, respectively. Those are pretty impressive numbers against a big hitting team like Damonte with Morgan Waller, Meagan Carlson and Jasmin Hubbard.
Roberts had the biggest night of them all with 15 kills and 13 digs. She was virtually unstoppable most of the night.
“Sometimes I can tell and sometimes I can’t (if I’m going to have a big night),” Roberts said. “I knew I was doing pretty well. The passes were there.
“We all played well as a team. Everybody was having fun out there.”
Winning will do that for a team.
Roberts made her presence felt immediately, registering seven kills in the opening set, which featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes.
A tip by Dajarrah Navarro and an ace by Natalie Anderson gave Carson a 24-23 lead. However, Carlson knotted the game at 24 with a kill. Kylie Riske gave the Senators a 25-24 lead with a kill, and Anderson ended the first set with a well-placed dink.
Riske is part of a recent line-up shift. She started the season as a middle blocker, but has been moved to the right side with Navarro moving to the middle.
“Kylie’s move to the right side makes us a different team,” Maw said. “With Kylie out there, they can’t camp out against our middles. At one time, we can have Maddie (Jergesen), Kylie and Jaycie up there. That spreads the defense out; one blocker versus one hitter.”
The second set was close for a while until Carson took control.
Leading 10-8, Carson scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 22-10 lead. Roberts was in the middle of the flurry with two kills and two aces, and Juliana Anderson had a kill and stuff block on Morgan Waller. Damonte had two hitting errors and a service error in that span.
The Senators closed out the game with a quick-set kill by Navarro and an ace by Natalie Anderson, who played one of her most complete matches of the season.
The final set was a virtual replay of the first set. There were 10 ties and nine lead changes. Damonte led by four three different times, while the Senators’ biggest lead was two points.
Two kills by Waller gave the Mustangs a 23-21 lead, and the match seemed destined to go four games. The Mustangs gave a point back on Lenae Burkhart’s service error to make it 23-22, but Hubbard’s kill made it 24-22. A kill by Jergesen and a hitting error by Carlson tied the set at 24. Hubbard slammed one down for a 25-24 lead, but Jergesen matched it, tying it at 25. Allie Kibbe’s service error gave the Mustangs a 26-25 lead, but that was the last poin they would score.
A Damonte error tied it at 26, and a kill by Juliana Anderson gave Carson its last lead of the match, 27-26. Carlson was wide on a cross-court spike, giving CHS the sweep. Carlson sank to her knees in disappointment when the shot was ruled out.