PJ McKinney needed all of one match to know that he had something special in freshman middle Zoey Carlson.

Newark’s season opener against Moline, he could tell that Carlson was a little nervous.

Until she hit two long bombs.

“One she hit, they overpassed it to the net and she put it straight down. We thought ‘Zoey, now you belong,’” said McKinney, Newark’s coach. “She has been flying ever since.”

Carlson should be on cloud nine after Tuesday’s match.

She had big hit after big hit, five of her team-high 10 kills and a block in the third set alone.

Newark rallied from a four-point deficit late in the clinching set for a 25-22, 23-25, 25-23 win over visiting and previously undefeated Aurora Christian.

“It was fun, it was good competition,” Carlson said. “Definitely one of the more int

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