Carson spikers sweep North Valleys

For the outmanned North Valleys' volleyball team, it was an exercise in futility. For Carson, it was a walk in the park.

Despite a shaky first game, the Senators rolled to a 25-17, 25-11 and 25-10 win over the Panthers Thursday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.

The victory was Carson's third straight in Sierra League play after an opening-night loss to Douglas. Carson visits South Tahoe next Tuesday night.

Carson coach Shana Wilkins was happy with her team's offense, but not so happy with the intensity. Carson gave away a few points in all three games, and just didn't seem in sync once it got a big lead.

"We passed the ball well," Wilkins said. "We were able to hit the middle and we even worked on a few new offensive schemes; Nicole (Scott) hitting from the outside.

"I still like to play tough; improve during the game. Even if the game isn't close, I still want to see us improve. When the intensity of the whole match is low, it's hard to get them to stay up. North Valleys plays a slow game. I like a fast game. I like a fast offense. I like us to play quick."

In the opening set, Carson enjoyed an early 8-3 lead thanks to a kill by Scott (5 for the match), two kills and an ace by Catherine Brekken (6 kills, 3 blocks) and a tip by Nikki Keller. Two aces by Emma Finlay helped the Panthers cut the deficit to 9-8.

North Valleys, which never was able to generate much of an offense, gave up five of the next six points as Carson grabbed a 14-9 lead. Scott had another kill and Keller served up one of seven Carson aces. The other three points came on two illegal sets and an errant serve.

Carson built the lead to 21-13 thanks to some nice net play by Brekken, Courtney Katafias (5 kills) and Alex McAlman. A block by Valentina Schilling and an ace by Ashly Donaldson trimmed the lead to 21-16. North Valleys never got any closer, as an ace by Morgan Nuckolls and Katafias' soft spike closed out the game.

Scott's two early kills in the second set and a tip by Sandie Howard (4 kills) helped the Senators to a 7-2 lead. Howard and Scott added two more kills and Keller served another ace to increase the lead to 17-7. The Panthers were unable to get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

North Valleys looked completely lost in the third set, as Carson rolled to a 15-3 lead. Howard put down a couple of nice tips, Brekken added two blocks and a kill, setter Lindsay Ford (29 assists) served up an ace and Katafias' downball fell in between several North Valleys defenders.

North Valleys scored the next two points on a kill by Finlay and Ford's tip that went wide. Another kill by Brekken and five straight errors by North Valleys made it 21-5. Kills by Brekken and Howard helped Carson close out the match.

JV SQUAD SWEEPS N. VALLEYS

Carson rolled to an easy 25-5, 21-25 and 15-8 victory over the Panthers.

Christa Casci led the Senators with seven kills and five aces, Hannah Hein added three kills and seven aces and Kailey Taylor hit four kills and served two aces.

Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281