Stefanie Schmidt (8) and Ku'ulei Haupu go up to block a Manogue shot Thursday at CHS.
Carson High volleyball coach Robert Maw spent a long time in the locker room pondering what could have been.
The Senators had good leads in both the first and third games, but couldn’t finish the deal and dropped a 21-25, 19-25 and 23-25 decision to Bishop Manogue Thursday night at Morse Burley Gym.
Carson dropped to 5-3 in Northern 4A play, including a 1-1 mark against Sierra League teams.
“We squandered an opportunity tonight. I believe that,” Maw said. “We can’t beat ourselves like we did tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing them in the regional championship game.”
Both teams have a lot of work to do to make that happen, and if Carson can’t do a better job against the serve, it has no chance to reach the regional finals.
Manogue served up just eight official aces, but there were many other times when Carson managed to get the ball up it wasn’t a clean pass, and it’s tough to play up tempo if you can’t control the serve.
“We were not moving our feet (on the serves),” Maw said. “We were not anticipating where the serve was going. We would wait until the ball went over the net to make a decision. We were not being aggressive in serve receive.”
“I think we served well,” Manogue coach Jason Sterrett. “Carson always does a good job. They did a great job on defense getting up a lot of balls. I like the way we were able to come back. I think in two of the three games they had us by five points, and we were able to come back. That has happened a couple of other times this year, but we’ve come back. We have some good leadership which is why we’re able to stay focused.”
Manogue led 8-6 in the opening set, but Carson scored 10 of the next 14 points for a 16-12 lead.
Ku’ulei Haupu had a stuff block and an off-the-net kill, while Jaycie Roberts (12 kills, 6 digs), Keelin Pilgrim (9 kills, 2 digs) and Natalie Anderson (29 assists, 5 digs) also added a kill. Manogue had five errors in that span.
After that, the teams traded surges.
Manogue went on a 5-0 run as Allison Redl-Harge had a kill and Allison Gunderson had a dink. Carson bounced right back to take a 21-19 lead thanks to an ace by Shea DeJoseph and a kill by Pilgrim. Two kills by Redl-Harge and an ace by Lauren Roide sparked a 6-0 surge and closed out the game.
“I was happy with the first set,” Maw said. “We were able to get some good runs going against them, and that’s a positive.”
In the second set, two 6-1 runs by the Miners made it 18-8. Carson closed to 18-12 on an ace and tip by Roberts and a stuff block by Haupu, but the Miners went on a 5-1 run to make it 23-13. Jessica Petersen served up an ace and Redl-Harge (10 kills, 3 blocks) had a kill.
Carson wouldn’t quit, however, scoring six straight on three aces by DeJoseph and kills by Roberts and Pilgrim. An ace by Becca Smith and kill by Redl-Harge closed out the Senators.
The Senators used an 11-4 run in the third set to take an 18-13 lead. Roberts had five kills in that stretch. Manogue went on a 6-1 run to take a 20-19 lead, as Redl-Harge had three kills. From there, the game was tied at 20, 21, 22 and 23 before Manogue on kills by Sara Pool (7 kills) and Jensen Oppio ended the match.
“We are still relying on Jaycie and Keelin too much,” Maw said. “We have to get our middles involved more. We have to set them more, and we also need to pass better to run more tempo.”
Dust Devils swept in Fallon
FALLON — Six Dayton seniors — Hailey Wells, Kali Lampshire, Kallie and Kassie Strong, Kayla Celedon and Makenna Olsen — opted not to play because of Homecoming activities, and the Greenwave won 25-22, 25-8 and 25-16 Thursday night in a 3A match.
“Even though we lost in three, we played hard and gave Fallon a run for their money,” coach Monica Halverson. “There were some mistakes, but those were because of inexperience. Brianda Diaz played the libero position with so much heart.”
Diaz had 24 digs and three kills, while Grace Wells contributed 13 kills and six digs. Taylor Kinney finished with eight digs and five kills while Rebecca Mason added six kills. Ashley Mason dug up seven balls and added three kills. Dayton had 19 kills and 20 errors.
TENNIS
Carson outlasts Tigers
The Senators finished the regular season with a 9-2 record after dispatching Douglas, 11-7, Thursday afternoon at Carson High.
The match was tied at 3 after the first group of matches, but Carson won eight of the next 12 to post the win.
Taylor Saarem and Jayson Artz went 3-0, dropping just one game. Alek Henricksen and Stu McElhany went 3-0, losing just seven games, and Danny Dudley and Jared Barnard also went 3-0 and lost just 10 games.
Nick Rosen and Bradley Wiggins posted the two other set wins for CHS.
Douglas trims CHS girls
MINDEN — The Tigers concluded their season with a 12-6 win over the Senators.
Douglas swept the singles and won three doubles matches.
Emma Breeding and Henley Ball-McKenzie went 2-1 as did Amanda Schulz and Emily McCaskill, and Mikaela Asby and Nancy Henricksen.