Dennis Mansfield | Iron Mountain Daily News North Central’s Katrina Borucki (4) jumps to block a shot from Carney-Nadeau Tuesday in Powers.

POWERS — Lengthy service runs helped Carney-Nadeau’s cause in a season-opening 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-11) volleyball victory over North Central here Tuesday night.

Senior Hailey DeGrave concluded the match with an eight-point run and sophomore Gracie DuPont hit the last six points in the second set. Junior Samantha Kedsch added six-point runs in each of the first two sets.

“Serving is one of the things we’ve done well in practice,” said C-N coach Steve Kedsch. “We just wanted to play controlled volleyball, and I thought the girls did a good job of that. Defensively, there’s some things we need to work on. Some of the younger girls were a little nervous.”

Sam Kedsch hit three straight aces in her first run, helping the Wolves surge to a 13-2 advantage in the opener.

The Jets didn’t just roll over, however, as they climbed within 16-12 on a Wolves’ hitting error.

“We showed flashes of how we can play and flashes of our history,” said Jets’ coach Rick Mick. “We need to get past our old habits and be more consistent. Even though the set scores may not show it, I think this is the most competitive we’ve been Carney in my four years of coaching. Our theme for this year is to hold each other accountable and we did that tonight.”

Sam Kedsch’s second run helped the Wolves gain a 9-2 cushion in the second set.

The Jets were within 9-4 following a service ace by junior Mady Bemis. The Wolves, however, didn’t allow them to get any closer.

North Central stayed close in the finale, trailing just 11-10 after a kill by junior Gracie Kleikamp.

A defensive and hitting error then hurt the Jets and an ace by DuPont gave C-N a 15-10 cushion.

The Jets were still within 16-11, then were foiled by a serving miscue, setting the stage for DeGrave’s match-ending run.

“The third set was close at times,” said Mick. “I think there’s a number of positives we can take away from this match. We were able to dig into our bench and the girls off the bench did well. Also, our serving was better than in the past. We’re young yet. We started only one senior. Emma Sampson, Haylee Gatien and Sam Burton were our most aggressive hitters tonight.”

DeGrave finished with five aces and seven kills and Sam Kedsch had four aces, two kills and 11 assists.

“Sam and Hailey had good serving nights,” said coach Kedsch. “Sam placed the ball well. North Central has some good athletes. I’m sure they’ll get better as the season goes on.”

The Wolves, who won the JV match in two sets, host Forest Park Thursday. The Jets host Stephenson Thursday.

Carney-Nadeau — DeGrave (five aces, seven kills); Kedsch (four aces, two kills, 11 assists); Lenca (two aces, two digs); Laurila (two kills, four digs); Jackson (two kills, two digs).