Todd Rose | Daily Press Carney-Nadeau’s Hailey DeGrave (14) prepares to spike the ball against North Central’s Maddy Bemis (7) Tuesday at Carney.

CARNEY — The Carney-Nadeau Wolves began their 2021 volleyball season in winning fashion Tuesday night with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-2) sweep over the North Central Jets in Carney.

After going up 2-0 in a pair of competitive matches, the Wolves bit down with a 19-point run helmed by Mary Sivula.

Sivula bookended the service run with two aces in her first and last serves.

The win, especially with numbers down on the squad, was a good start to the year, said Wolves coach Steve Kedsch.

“It’s always positive to get a win right off the bat. It helps the confidence with the girls,” said Kedsch. “With the small team this, we were a little nervous. We already have one girl sitting out, leaving us only seven to play, but, I thought the kids dug down deep tonight.”

Kedsch also commented on Sivula’s performance serving.

“Obviously, Mary had a great service run in that third set which really carried us through,” he said. “Last year, at the beginning of the season, she was serving well like that again. So, it was really good to see that she came back and started the season off the same way.”

Sivula led the Wolves with seven aces, while Malorie Baumler, who also had five aces, led the team in kills with seven and digs with eight.

Samantha Kedsch was atop the assists category with 15 on the night.

Coach Kedsch also noted the performances of Hailey DeGrave, Baumler and the whole team defensively.

“Hailey did a good job at the net tonight. She got a few blocks tonight,” he said. “Mal Baumler, again, had a nice service run tonight and had some nice hits outside.

“Defensively, I thought — as a team — we were moving well. As a team sport, if you’re playing well and moving and jelling together as a team, that’s a huge difference. I thought that was good for us tonight.”

While the first two sets were eventually claimed by Carney, the Jets showed some strength as well, especially in set two as they took the lead early on 3-1 and again 5-3.

North Central coach Rick Mick — who leads a young team this year — noted not being one-hundred percent ready rather than youth as a reason for the night’s loss.

“I don’t feel like we prepared well enough for this, and that is largely my fault,” Mick said. “The first two weeks of practice — with all the outside distractions that were going on last week and the week before — we had a hard time getting the full team in the gym.

“Now, I think when we get past that, and we settle and start to focus on ourselves better. We’re going to see some improvement.”

Mick, despite the loss, was still happy with the way the Jets played.

“Overall, I was actually impressed with the way we played today,” he said. “The first two games, we played great. The third game, we lost our feet. I told the girls that it sounds silly, but this game is played with your feet, and when you lose your feet, you don’t get the balls. And that’s what happened to us.”

Mick — who praised Kedsch’s coaching for the Wolves’ program — added, “We would never have competed them this well with them last year. I think we’ve made some strides.”

Carney plays Forest Park today while North Central visits Stephenson.