Two games into its Northern 4A match on Tuesday, the Carson High School volleyball team's perfect season record was in serious jeopardy.
The Senators got back up off the deck, however, and rallied to pull out a thriller from the Reno Huskies that literally came right down to the wire at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
Carson improved its Sierra League-leading record to 6-0, but only after overcoming the two-game deficit. The Senators went on to win 13-15, 8-15, 15-1, 15-11, 17-15.
Reno, now 3-3 in conference, drew words of praise from Carson coach Daryl James.
"They're a good club and they outplayed us tonight. We were lucky, that's all I can say," James said.
The Senators had to rally back from a 6-1 deficit in game 4 and a 15-14 deficit in game five. It was a win, nonetheless.
"Even on an off night, we still battled. That's the main thing," James added.
It didn't hurt to have a veteran like Kaitlin Leck on the floor, either. In the decisive fifth game, Reno fought back from a 14-10 deficit and scored five unanswered points to take the lead - thanks to Jenny Stewart's dig and ensuing kill, and then Kelley Clogovac's stuff block on Leck.
Leck didn't let one failure phase her.
"I've learned over the years that when you have a bad play, you just have to shake it off and go get the next one," said Leck, a four-year starter at Carson.
That she did. Moments later, Ryanne Amodei lofted a set to the left side and Leck drilled a cross-court shot that hit just inside the back line to tie the score at 15. Next, the 6-foot-1 senior tipped the ball over the net to give Carson a 16-15 lead. Finally, the Huskies were unable to handle Heidi Alexander's serve as Carson closed out the win.
"We weren't into the game early," Leck said. "Reno plays good defense. The twins (Lyndsay and Candice Kilburn) play very good defense, and I don't think we were ready for that. But we came together at the end; that was the difference."
Leck led a balanced Carson attack with 18 kills. Megan Anderson also had 12 kills, four of which came during a sequence in game 5 when the Senators surged from a 6-6 tie into an 11-7 lead. Jennifer Saunders contributed 10 kills and Katie Dill nine. Rachael DeRiemer was credited with seven kills, five digs and three blocks. Amodei handed out 53 assists in the match.
What did James tell the Senators when they were down two games and had their backs up against the wall.
"I didn't yell, or anything like that. I just told them, 'Hey, it's heart and doing all the little stuff that wins or loses a match. The little things like passing, digging, moving your feet and getting the tip from your opponent."
The Senators resume play tonight when they visit Sierra League rival South Tahoe.
