Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Carney-Nadeau’s Liana Blahnik (9) tips the ball over the net as North Central’s Andie Arsenault (right) defends Tuesday at North Central.

POWERS — It was the first chance either team had to play an actual game, and Carney-Nadeau finished the North Central Jets in straight sets, 3-0 (25-11, 25-6, 25-7) Tuesday night at North Central.

Both teams had difficulty adjusting after an offseason devoid of skill camps and with practices only recently beginning, but the Wolves were able to adapt faster and — after the first set — held the Jets under double-digit points in the final two sets.

“It was different this year,” Wolves coach Steve Kedsch said. “We didn’t get to do any summer tournaments this year, but we were practicing. You just can’t simulate games in those practices.”

Carney excelled at serving, even starting its possession in the first set with three straight aces by Mary Sivula to make it 4-1.

“We had a couple girls that stepped up and served well,” Kedsch said. “They were picking out some spots where North Central was making some adjustments and trying to counter those adjustments with the serve.”

Despite reducing their deficit to 5-4 shortly after, the Jets fell further behind after a six-point run from the Wolves’ Liana Blahnik.

North Central wasn’t able to find its footing for the rest of the set, dropping it 25-11.

After an ace from the Jets’ Ashley Neuens started the second off the second set, they fell behind again after a 10-point run from Sivula.

“Definitely serve-receive and our serving itself (were issues tonight),” Jets coach Rick Mick said. “We were exposed by a good serving team. They were very good at putting the ball where they wanted it and putting it where we weren’t. They did a good job of making us move and we paid for it. When we did get our opportunity to serve, (we had issues).”

Despite a few opportunities, the Jets couldn’t take advantage and dropped the set 25-6.

The third was more of the same as the Jets were only able to score one of the first 15 points and couldn’t string a run together for the entirety.

“I was very encouraged (tonight),” Mick said. “I feel like if you compare last year’s team with this year’s during their first match — we’re a few steps ahead this year based on what I saw tonight.”

Sivula led the Wolves with eight aces, four digs and one kill. Blahnik notched 12 kills and two digs, and Taylor Kedsch finished with eight digs, seven kills and three aces.

“We were unsure (initially), and it’s kind of unbelievable when we got the news that we were playing because I know some of the districts downstate still have closed gyms,” Kedsch said. “So we’re very fortunate to be playing on the court right now. I know we’re not where we want to be, but we’re just happy to be playing on the court.”

Neuens collected two aces for the Jets, and Katelyn Deming finished with one.

“I think, like last year, (this team) has a lot of fight,” Mick said. “With the exception of a couple, we did a good job scrambling and working hard to get to balls. We didn’t always get them up in the air, but we did keep fighting for them.”

Carney hosts Forest Park Thursday, while North Central gets a break until Sept. 8 when it visits Forest Park.

Carney-Nadeau

Aces — Sivula 8, Kedsch 3, Walcher 3, Ernest 1, Blahnik 1, Baumler 1; kills — Blahnik 12, Kedsch 7, Kirschner 3, Ernest 1, Sivula 1, Baumler 1; digs — Kedsch 8, Walcher 5, Sivula 4, Ernest 2, Blahnik 2, Baumler 2.

North Central

Aces — Neuens 2, Deming 1.