Quite simply, Carson High’s volleyball team couldn’t get the job done at crunch time.
Carson made some key service errors in the second and third games en route to a 23-25, 25-27 and 21-25 loss to McQueen Tuesday night at Morse Burley Gym in a Division I crossover match.
The loss dropped Carson to 1-4 heading into Thursday’s match at Damonte Ranch at 6 p.m.
“We missed three serves (in the last game), and they end up going on an eight-point run,” Carson coach Robert Maw said. “There was a lack of focus at the end. It was a tough loss. We have a habit of not finishing. We missed just a couple of serves in the first and second games. McQueen stepped up their game.
“Jaycie (Roberts) and Savannah (Smith) did a very good job of passing and Juliana (Anderson) did a great job hitting (10 kills).”
In the opening set, the biggest lead McQueen enjoyed was four points (12-8, 14-10 and 20-16). A service error and a McQueen serve-receive error enabled the Senators to make it 20-18. Delayni Fine pounded down a kill, but gave a point right back on a hitting error to make it 21-19. McQueen made it 22-19 on a lift by Makenzie Tucker, but a service error by Lauren Martinez gave the point right back. McKenzi Moon and Taylor Sallan registered kills to make it 24-21.
Carson wasn’t ready to go away just yet, as Anderson pounded a kill off a McQueen block attempt, and then the Lancers were called for a net violation to make it 24-23. Moon ended the game with a kill.
The second game was just as hotly contested, The teams were tied at 6, 7, 8, 17, 19 and 20-all.
Carson used a four-point run to tie the game at 17, as Smith, Gina Peacock, Allison Kibbe and Gaby Palazzolo all had kills in that span. Carson went ahead 22-20 thanks to two McQueen mistakes and a kill by Anderson. However, Peacock missed a serve to make it 22-21. Anderson’s kill upped the lead to 23-21, but a hitting error by the Carson standout made it 23-22. Palazzolo’s kill had CHS one point away from evening the match, but two Carson hitting errors and a kill by Moon when a CHS pass went over the net enabled the Lancers to take a 25-24 lead. A kill by Kibbe evened the match at 25, but Moon gave the Lancers a 2-0 lead when she converted back-to-back spikes for a 27-25 win.
Carson overcame the disappointment of losing that second game by grabbing an early 10-4 lead thanks to a couple of kills by Anderson, an ace by Anderson and a dink by Danielle Good. Carson maintained that edge until the Lancers scored four straight points to pull to 19-18. Twice serves by McQueen’s Sydney Calton hit the net. The first one fell in for an ace. The second Carson was unable to dig out. A dink by Good and a net violation by McQueen gave Carson a 21-18 advantage. Tucker, who played a solid all-around floor game, missed a serve, Good was called for an illegal set and Moon blocked Kibbe which enabled the Lancers to tie the game at 21. McQueen scored the next four points, three coming on hitting errors by Carson.
Palazzolo finished with five kills, Good had 25 assists, Peacock led the team in blocks with 5.5, and Roberts and Tucker had four digs apiece.
