Silver State volleyball to be honored by Governor

The Silver State Volleyball Club's 17-gold team will be honored by Governor Kenny Guinn and Carson City Mayor Ray Masayko for its third place finish at the United States Junior Olympics.

The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Capitol Building.

Silver State won a bronze medal out of 28 teams at the Junior Olympics. It's the first time a team from Northern Nevada has medaled at the Junior Olympics.

Two players from the club, Douglas High's Emily Haas and Fallon's Tristin Adams were named to the 2002 U.S. Junior Olympic All-American team. They became the first two Northern Nevada players to be named as All-Americans.

The team nearly qualified for the finals, losing to the Milwaukee Sting 16-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 17-19 in the semifinals. Silver State had five match points before falling.

"I have never been more proud of any team I have ever coached," said coach Steve George, who has coached two national champions and six top five teams in the past. "To come from such a relatively small area and to compete and defeat teams from major metropolitan areas is astonishing and a real testament to how hard the girls worked to achieve their goal."

Other members of the team are: Carson City's Rachael DeRiemer and Alyssa Wilson; Douglas High's Brittany Addeo and Michele Paterson; Galena's Joanna Hixon; Fallon's Carly Sorensen; and North Tahoe's Teal Ericson.