Douglas takes third in volleyball

Coming off a big win against traditional Northern 4A rival Fallon on Thursday, the Douglas High volleyball team continued its momentum into the weekend and captured third-place at the 36-team High Sierra Invitational in Reno.

Douglas, ranked No. 1 in the Sierra Nevada Sports Media Poll, came out strong at home on Thursday and knocked off previously unbeaten Fallon 25-14, 25-11, 28-30, 25-17. Then the Tigers went 6-2 against some high level competition at the High Sierra Invitational, capped by a loss in the semifinals Saturday against powerful Nevada Union (Grass Valley, Calif.).

Nevada Union defeated Douglas 25-10, 25-16 and then went on to beat Homestead (Cupertino, Calif.) in the tournament's championship match.

It was a "great" tournament overall for the Tigers - now 15-3 on the season - according to coach Suzi Townsell.

"They played hard and worked well as a team," she said.

The semifinal loss was a quality test for the Tigers since Nevada has won five straight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I titles and was a semifinalist in the 2006 Northern California Division I playoffs. The Miners feature senior standouts Sarah McAtee and Caroline Reeves - named tournament co-MVPs - who have given verbal commitments to play for coachOscar Crespo at San Jose State.

Earlier on Saturday, the Tigers defeated McQueen 25-23, 25-21; as well as a pair of California opponents, Palo Alto 25-23, 19-25, 15-8; and Golden Valley (Merced) 25-9, 23-25, 15-4. Their other defeat came against another highly respected California opponent, Ripon, a team that came into the tournament seeded No. 2 and was a Sac-Joaquin Section finalist in 2006. Douglas lost in three games 25-23, 21-25,15-11.

In Friday's tournament pool play, Douglas beat two other California teams Roseville (25-11, 25-12) and Enterprise (25-14, 25-19) and also beat Nevada AA foe Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas (25-12, 25-20).

The Tigers had some individual highlights, according to coach Townsell. Among those, she said Libero Mary Lombino overall played outstanding defense and was a terrific team leader.

Also, Mysta Townsell closed out four games in a row with a total of 20 service points; Taryn Williams and Jourdan Burke as outside hitters combined for 27 kills; Allie Hughes contributed 22 assists; Megan Mitchell had 39 assists; Jordan Marsh helped with aggressive serving and defense; Bridget Maestretti and Mel Brown added awesome net play and serving; and Christine DuPuis came in to assist her team with great hitting.

Thursday against Fallon, Burke had 14 kills, while Jessica Waggoner contributed 10 kills and 10 blocks to help lead the Tigers. Mitchell also delivered 28 assists and three aces and Lombino came up with 24 digs.

Stats

Ripon (23-25, 25-21, 11-15): Megan Mitchell (setter) 21 assists 7 service points; Jessica Waggoner (MH)) 5 kills, 4 blocks; Mary Lombino (Libero) 3 service points, 8 digs; Jourdan Burke (OH) 6 kills 1 block, 1 dig; Taryn Williams (OH) 5 kills; Christine DuPuis (OH) 3 kills, 6 digs; Bridget Maestretti (MH) 3 kills; Mysta Townsell (RS/DS) 5 service points, 3 digs.

McQueen (25-23, 25-21): No stats

Palo Alto (25-23, 19-25, 15-8): Mitchell 30 assists, 4 digs, 6 service points; Lombino (Libero) 14 digs, 5 service points; Alyssa Todd (RS), 5 kills; Burke 10 kills, 4 service points, 1 dig; Williams 12 kills, 4 service points 2 digs; Mel Brown (MH) 1 kill, 1 service point; Maestretti 8 kills; Waggoner 4 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig; Townsell 1 kill, 4 service points, 1 ace, 10 digs

Golden Valley (25-9, 23-25, 15-4): Mitchell 1 kill, 5 service points, 14 assists; Allie Hughes (setter/RS) 3 kills, 3 service points, 1 block, 9 assists; Todd 2 kills, 1 dig; Burke 3 kills, 7 service points, 1 block; Williams 8 kills, 9 service points, 1 dig; Brown, 2 kills, 2 service points; Maestretti, 4 kills; Waggoner 6 kills, 8 blocks; Jordan Marsh (DS), 2 service points, 4 digs; Townsell 3 service points, 1 assist, 7 digs.

Nevada Union (10-25, 16/25) semifinals: Mitchell 10 assists, 1 block, 3 digs; Mary Lombino 11 digs, 1 service point; Hughes 3 kills, 2 digs; Burke 5 kills, 1 block, 6 digs; Williams 2 kills, 4 digs, 1 service point; Waggoner, 4 kills, 3 blocks; Townsell 7 digs 4 service points.

Friday

Roseville (25-11, 25-12): Waggoner 7 blocks, 7 kills; Megan Mitchell 2 blocks, 14 assists.

Enterprise (25-14, 25-19): Waggoner, 5 kills 6 blocks; Williams 6 kills 4 blocks; Lombino 14 digs.

Faith Lutheran (25-12, 25-20): Waggoner, 7 kills, 10 blocks; Mitchell, 3 blocks, 18 assists.

Thursday

Fallon (25-14, 25-11, 28-30, 25-17): Kills - Burke 14, Waggoner 10, Williams 10, Brown 4, DuPuis 2, Maestretti 1, Marsh 1, Mitchell 1, Todd 1, Townsell 1. Blocks - Waggoner 10, Burke 2, Brown 1, Hughes 1, Maestretti 1, Townsell 1. Assists - Mitchell 28, Hughes 11. Aces - Mitchell 3, Townsell 3, Burke 2, Maestretti 2, Brown 1, Lombino 1, Williams 1. Digs - Lombino 24, Townsell 5, Hughes 2, Williams 2, Brown 1, Burke 1.