A young Carson High School volleyball team showed flashes of promise at times Tuesday night. The Senators simply weren't consistent enough, as McQueen swept to a nonconference victory at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
The McQueen Lancers (1-0) came from behind to win the first and third games on their way to winning in straight sets 27-25, 25-9, 25-21.
Inexperience and inconsistency were key factors for Carson (1-1), according to first-year head coach Shana Wilkins.
"At times, we did play well," Wilkins said. "We need to be consistent and we need to be aggressive for an entire match, not just in certain spots.
"We've got a young team. We have five seniors, but none of them played a lot last year. It's just going to take time to get the experience we need."
The Senators capitalized on McQueen's season-opening jitters early, as they jumped out to leads of 8-2 and 13-7 in game one. However, McQueen rallied back to turn the game into a seesaw affair in which the score was tied nine times.
The Senators applied pressure with the aid of some scrappy defense. They tied the score at 17 with the aid of a diving dig by Michelle Raponi that led to a kill by Lindsay Ford. Colleen Etcheverria went to her knees to come up with a dig, then got back up in time to take a set from Ford and put down a kill that gave Carson a 22-21 lead. Moments later, Kaitlin Burroughs went to the floor for a dig that led to a McQueen hitting error as Carson went up 23-22.
"We are scrappy, and I like that because you don't teach scrappy," Wilkins said. "As soon as we put everything else together with that, we're going to be tough."
Unfortunately for the Senators, they wound up the game by giving up three successive errors that turned a 25-25 score into a 27-25 McQueen win.
McQueen's momentum continued into the second game when the Lancers surged to a 9-0 lead they never relinquished. Junior Katie Eshelman, an ace pitcher who helped McQueen to the High Desert League softball championship last spring, used her jump serve to ring up four aces during that run.
Carson rebounded to make game three a close struggle that saw four lead changes and eight ties. The last tie was at 17-17, but then Sarah Aeschlimann put down a kill to give McQueen a lead it held for good.
Aeschlimann finished the night with 15 kills and six service aces. Eshelman also had seven kills, eight digs and four aces for the Lancers, while Kristin Hunt had nine kills and three blocks. Rachel Miller contributed six kills and six digs.
Carson had no statistics available.
FROSH-SOPH
Carson's freshmen came from behind to defeat McQueen in a closely contested match 17-25, 25-18, 15-13. The Senators were led by the serving of Darcy Morris, Amanda Crowder and Jenna Duralde, along with the defensive play of Kacey Potter and Lailah Mobaligh.
McQueen won the junior varsity match 28-26, 25-10.
The Senators return to action Thursday with a nonconference match against Galena.
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1214.
