CARLTON -- Amber Bloom's wish came true, even if her memory was a little off.
The Carlton senior outside hitter celebrated the end of her high school volleyball home career in style Thursday night as the Bulldogs beat rival Esko 3-0.
The 26-24, 25-14, 26-24 win probably gave Carlton the Polar League title and, more importantly after losing to the Eskomos in the playoffs the past two seasons, gave the Bulldogs the series edge this year.
"It was, by far, the match I was looking forward to the most," said Bloom, who had a game-high 23 kills before a packed gym. "Nothing else mattered but this game."
Bloom was ecstatic afterward, believing the victory kept her undefeated at home in four years on the varsity. Upon further review, Carlton is 23-0 at home the past three years but did lose in five games to Hermantown in Bloom's freshman season.
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"It's kind of ironic," Bloom said of the win over Carlton's biggest rival. "It makes it1,000 times better that [my final home win] came against Esko."
Due to class and section realignment, Carlton and Esko cannot meet in the playoffs. Thursday's grudge match was the teams' lone meeting and the only chance the Bulldogs (16-3-2, 9-0) had to avenge both of their losses from a year ago, including one in the Section 5AA semifinals.
"Our goal for the season was to take Esko in three games," sophomore middle hitter Tayler Carpenter said. "They have no chance to come back [and beat us] this year."
The defeats of the past two years constantly gnawed at the Bulldogs, Bloom said. When asked how often she had thought about losing last season, she said: "Every day. It definitely made me work a lot harder."
Carlton coach Barb Soukkala said she approached the match differently, preferring not to talk about revenge.
"We didn't talk about anything other than just play the best we can play and have fun at it," Soukkala said. "We didn't have anything to lose. They came in really relaxed."
The teams were tied 15 times in the opening game before Carlton won the final two points. That seemed to spark the Bulldogs, who jumped to a 13-3 lead in the second game and were never threatened.
"We just made too many errors and we had a hard time coming back from them," Esko coach Desi DeLeon said. "They played tough and they played smart."
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Esko appeared ready to extend the match, taking six-point leads four times during the third game -- the last at 15-9. That's when the Bulldogs turned to Carpenter for four kills to trim the deficit to 20-19. Five ties and a net serve later, Carlton put the match away for its eighth straight victory.
"We knew we only got them once and we had to come out our strongest," said Carpenter, who had 11 kills. "It was our best match by far."
The Bulldogs can clinch first place in the conference by beating Two Harbors on Tuesday. Esko (15-4, 7-1) had its nine-match win streak halted as well as a 17-match undefeated run in the conference.
RICK WEEGMAN covers prep volleyball for the News Tribune. He can be reached at (218) 723-5302, (800) 456-8181 or e-mailed at rweegman@duluthnews.com
