It's no secret that Kaitlin Leck figures to be a big factor for the Carson High School volleyball team this fall. Leck, a 6-foot-1 senior who all-conference honors last year, was indeed a factor on Tuesday night when she put down 13 kills and three blocks for the Senators in their Northern 4A match against Galena.
At the same time, however, Carson showed a pretty good supporting cast on its way to a four-set victory at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
Sophomore Rachael DeReimer delivered 12 kills and seven aces, setter Ryanne Amodei handed out 37 assists while Heidi Alexander and Chrissy Joseph gave strong back-row performances as Carson won the match 15-8, 8-15, 15-8, 15-13.
Carson improved its conference record to 2-0, and in the process, showed it is a team to reckon with.
"Kaitlin is the leader of our team. The other kids look up to her and they listen to her because she does have volleyball savvy," Carson coach Daryl James said of Leck, a fourth-year starter. "But this is a team sport. That's the way we play, and while we obviously want Kaitlin to get more swings, we don't want other teams keying on her."
James was pleased to beat a Galena team that won the Northern 4A Division I title last year.
"Galena could have just as easily won. They have a very good team so I'm happy to come out of here with a W," James said.
"We did some things, actually. There were a lot of areas where we improved from the way we played out in Elko," he added, referring to Carson's five-set win at Elko last Thursday. "We passed better, we set better, we hit the ball in the square and we blocked better."
Leck and DeReimer were part of a balanced Carson attack at the net. Jennifer Saunders had seven kills and six blocks, Megan Anderson six kills and three blocks and Katie Dill four kills.
Joseph was credited with five service aces and Alexander two. They also played well in the back row, according to James.
"They both passed well and played good defense," he said. "Our back row played helped us out big time."
Galena (0-2) suffered a setback in the fourth game when front line standout Kellie Burton left the court after turning an ankle.
"Losing Kellie had to hurt. She's definitely one of the better players in the league, but even after she left, they didn't roll over. They still played well."
Carson will be at home again Thursday for a match against McQueen.
DOUGLAS 3, MCQUEEN 0
Jencie Le Jeune and Emily Haas combined to put down 18 kills as Douglas swept to a three-game victory at McQueen, winning 15-10, 15-5, 15-13.
Le Jeune, a 6-foot right side hitter, had nine kills and Haas, a sophomore middle blocker, had nine kills as the Tigers improved their conference record to 2-0.
Andrea Honer also contributed five kills and six digs for Douglas. Chelsea Myers led the defense with 10 digs and senior setter Jamie McCreary handed out 29 assists.
Douglas visits Fallon on Thursday for a rematch of last year's Northern 4A zone tournament finals. Fallon is both the defending zone and state champion.
