Senator Maddie Jergesen (right) blocks a Reed shot Thursday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
This time there was no letdown.
Carson High’s volleyball team got off to another sizzling start, and instead of letting down in the final two games like they did Tuesday against Reno, the Senators kept the pedal to the metal en route to a 25-8, 25-13 and 25-13 win over Reed in a crossover match Thursday night at Morse Burley Gym,
Carson is 2-0, and visits Spanish Springs next Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Senators have yet to drop a game in regular-season play.
“We had a good practice yesterday (Wednesday),” Carson coach Robert Maw said. “We talked a lot about anticipating passes and hits; being able to read what was going to happen and where the ball is going on the court. I saw a lot of that tonight.
“One of the things we talked about is that we’re one of the top teams in the state, and we have to start playing like it for three full games.”
Mission accomplished.
Carson trailed just once the entire night, 1-0 to start the third game, and there were two ties (3-3 in Game 2 and 1-1 in Game 3). Hard to get much more dominant than that.
The Senators relied on their three main hitters — Juliana Anderson (11 kills), Jaycie Roberts (9) and Maddie Jergesen (8) — for their firepower.
Anderson had the hot hand in Game 1, hammering down six kills, while Roberts and Jergesen added three each.
Carson bolted to a 6-0 lead thanks to two kills by Anderson, one from Jergesen and an ace by Natalie Anderson. Reed, thanks to Emily Petrie’s two kills, closed the gap to 8-3. Reed never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
“Juliana was killing it,” Jergesen said of her teammate. “They had no chance against her.”
Carson scored 10 of the next 12 points to open up an 18-5 lead. Serving played a big role in the run, as Makenzie Tucker had two of her five aces in that span, and Abby Pradere added one on a change-up that fooled the Raiders. Roberts had two kills and a block in that span,
“I thought we served especially well,” Maw said of his team’s 12-ace effort.
A net violation by Pradere stopped the surge, but Carson scored seven of the last nine points to win. Juliana Anderson added two more kills and Jergesen one.
In Game 2, Carson used another dominating run to distance itself from the Raiders, much to the delight of the student cheering section.
Carson bolted to a 3-0 lead on a Juliana Anderson kill and two Reed errors. The Raiders rebounded to tie the game at 3 on a block by Jensen Paris, a kill by Maddy Johnson and a Carson violation.
The Senators scored 15 of the next 19 points to lead 18-7. The surge included an ace by Tucker and two from Pradere, who has been a vital cog even as a freshman. Natalie Anderson and Kylie Riske contributed kills in that stretch. The rest of the points came on errors, as Reed was unable to stand up to Carson’s quick-tempo offense.
Reed closed to eight two different times — 19-11 and 21-13 — but an ace serve by Juliana Anderson and a couple of kills by Jergesen put the Senators up 2-0.
In Game 3, a 10-3 run broke open a tight 12-8 game and gave Carson a 22-11 lead. Juliana Anderson and Jergesen had a kill apiece. Johnson ended the skid with a kill to make it 19-11 and Carson scored six of the last eight for the sweep.
“We discussed it (the letdown on Tuesday),” Jergesen said. “We knew we had to pull together, and I felt we came together as a team.
“We’re going to have a good season. We just have to stay strong and work together.”
NOTES: Maw said he was happy he was able to get everybody some court time ... Gaby Palazzolo was on the bench, her knee encased in a brace.
She’s going to have an MRI when the swelling goes down, but appears headed for surgery again, according to her dad, Steven. With Palazzolo out, Maw played Natalie Anderson full rotations and also brought Allie Kibbe off the bench to play the right side.
