Lady Tigers prepare for soccer, volleyball state tournaments

The Douglas High volleyball and girls' soccer teams will be chasing state titles this weekend, but the road for each will be about as tough as it can get.

In volleyball, the Tigers are seeking their first state title since 1998, a span of 12 years.

The Tigers (34-2 overall) are faced with taking on Sunset Region champion Bishop Gorman in the first round at Manogue Friday night at 8 p.m.

The Gaels are 31-8 overall on the year and, like Douglas, blazed through their league schedule with a perfect 16-0 record.

They won the Sunset region in four sets over Centennial by the narrowest of margins -- 25-23, 25-23, 24-26 and 25-14 last week.

The Gaels are led by seniors Liz Manthei (2.3 kills and 3.5 assists per set), outside hitter Kylie Shaw (2.7 kills per set) and libero Brooke McKenna (five digs per set).

Douglas will counter with one of the top all-around outside tandems in the state - seniors Shannon Dugan (3.3 kills per set), and Brenna White (3.0 kills per set).

Senior setter Jackie Harper has averaged 8.4 assists per set, senior libero Mia Townsell averages 4.0 digs per set and senior middle blocker Emily Garcia has been averaging 1.0 blocks per set.

A win tonight would put the Tigers in the state title against either Manogue or Green Valley at 4 pm. Saturday at Manogue.

Douglas has beaten Manogue three times this year, but all three matches have been close. Green Valley is 27-9 on the year and features a scrappy lineup that finished as state runners-up last season.

In soccer, Douglas will be looking to defend its state title from last year.

The Tigers are pitted against Carson in a game starting a 6 p.m. Friday night at Damonte Ranch High School.

Carson escaped with a 1-0 win on a late goal at Carson earlier this season, and the teams settled for a scoreless tie in Minden in October.

Douglas boasts a 20-2-2 record on the year with its two losses coming to two of the state semifinalists, Carson and Galena. Carson is 14-1-4.

Tia Lyons has led a balanced offensive attack for Douglas with 20 goals on the year.

Katie Dry has 13, Alex Laing has nine, Lexie Weaver has seven, Jessica Vega has six, Shannon Prinz and four players have four each. Lyons leads the team with 15 assists while Dry has 11.

Keeper Bri Randall has posted five solo shutouts this season and nine combined shutouts with freshman keeper Courtney McKimmey. The Tiger defense has already posted a state record 14 shutouts on the season and 27 shutouts over the past two years.

The Lady Tigers have not beaten the Senators since 2008. The last time the two schools met in the playoffs was in 2001 when Carson claimed a 1-0 win in the Northern 4A Regional title match.

The only other playoff meeting between the two came in 1996 when Douglas beat the Senators on penalty kicks in the regional semifinals after going scoreless through regulation and two overtimes.

On the other side of the bracket, Galena will be meeting up with Southern Nevada representative, Pahrump Valley.

Pahrump emerged from the Southern play-in game last week by beating Faith Lutheran on penalty kicks after the two teams settled for a 2-2 tie through regulation and two overtimes.

Galena defeated Carson 1-0 in the regional semifinals and fell 2-1 to Douglas in the championship game.

Carson clinched a state berth with a 2-1 victory over Damonte Ranch with a late goal on a penalty kick.

The winners of the semifinal games will advance to Saturday's state title game, scheduled for 12 p.m. at Damonte Ranch.