Dahlke, Carver set school records in win at San Pasqual

Fallbrook High School volleyball players Kendra Dahlke and Miki Carver set school records in the Warriors’ match Sept. 20 at San Pasqual.

Dahlke had 42 kills against the Golden Eagles while Carver recorded 57 assists. The Warrior girls prevailed in five games

“They all had amazing games,” Fallbrook coach Robin Reese of her team.

The win snapped a three-match losing streak for the Warriors, who improved their season record to 5-4 with the victory over the Golden Eagles. After the Warriors were eliminated in the San Diego Fall Classic tournament, the team hosted #1-ranked Torrey Pines on Sept. 12. “They played really well against Torrey Pines,” Reese said. “The scores don’t really, I guess, show that.”

Torrey Pines triumphed in 25-12, 25-10, and 25-17 games. “They put up a fight and we didn’t just roll over and let them take the game,” Reese said.

“They have twelve girls on their team that are all top players,” Reese said of the Falcons. “If somebody makes a mistake they can pull somebody off the bench.”

Reese noted that such depth was the difference between Torrey Pines and Fallbrook. “We really can’t match up with a team like Torrey Pines,” she said.

Fallbrook then hosted Mission Vista on Sept. 18 and lost in five games after winning the first two. “We were really off our game. We had some chemistry issues that we needed to take care of,” Reese said.

Reese indicated that the lack of team chemistry was due to inexperience playing together rather than to an attitude problem. “As a group of twelve it takes a little while to build that team camaraderie,” she said.

“That’s why pre-season is so good,” Reese said. “You can focus on that.”

Fallbrook took 25-23 and 25-22 victories in the first two games against Mission Vista before the Timberwolves tied the match with a pair of 25-21 triumphs. Mission Vista had match point and a 14-7 lead in the fifth game; Fallbrook scored the next six points before the Timberwolves completed the 15-13 game to win the match.

“It wasn’t a lack of effort,” Reese said. “Too many unforced errors.”

Unforced errors happen regardless of team chemistry but can be repeated when team chemistry is deficient. “When our chemistry is really good our players have a way of accepting unforced errors. They have a way of picking others up and moving on to the next point.”

The Warriors focused on team chemistry issues during their Sept. 19 practice and had a better ability to move on to the next point in their match against San Pasqual. The Golden Eagles were on the preferred side of the first game’s 25-22 score. The Warriors took the lead with 25-16 and 29-27 victories. San Pasqual evened the match with a 25-23 triumph before Fallbrook’s 15-9 game five victory gave the Warriors the match. “They were exciting games,” Reese said.

“They were a really good defensive team,” Reese said of San Pasqual. “The ball came back every single time.”

Dahlke’s 42 kills were more observable from the statistics book than from her emotions. “She just goes up and does her job and moves on to the next play,” Reese said.

Fallbrook’s other outside hitter, Sarah Grantham, had 11 kills in 14 attempts. Middle blocker Amanda Williams recorded seven kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Danielle Levan contributed two kills, three blocks, and four digs. Opposite hitter Jessi Fagrell added two kills and five digs. Libero Tess Sutton contributed 11 digs with only one error, and she had no serve-receive errors in 32 receptions.