As far as close matches go, this one was a doozy.
The Douglas volleyball team took the opening game from Damonte Ranch, suffered two losses, came back to win the fourth and then sputtered in the fifth as the Tigers lost 25-22, 20-25, 22-25, 25-19, 8-15 in a back-and-forth thriller against the No. 6 Mustangs Tuesday night at Douglas.
The match featured a number of rallies extending into the two-minute range and was evenly-played between the two teams who have come to know eachother quite well over the last year.
Damonte Ranch featured two former Tiger starters - Colleen Carlson and Riece Steel who moved up with Mustang coach Velvet Steel when she left Douglas last year.
Carlson and Steel each played big roles in Tuesday's win, but Douglas sophomore middle hitter Jessica Waggoner had a career day, recording 25 kills and 14 blocks - the fourth-most in a match in the NIAA state record book - and two aces.
Ali Witteman (nine kills, five aces) and Taryn Williams (12 kills, three blocks, two aces) were each strong on the outside and Bridget Maestretti had one of her best matches of the season with eight kills, six blocks and three aces in the middle.
Megan Mitchell dished out 53 assists to go with two aces and Kaylee Hall had a breakout game with one kill, three assists, three blocks, two digs and one ace.
Douglas was again depleted in its roster, missing seniors Alex Risko, Bonnie Matheson, Danielle Brown, Megan Myers and junior Allie Hughes.
The Tigers favored more of a finesse look without power hitters Myers, Risko and Brown, often subbing Waggoner out for defensive specialist Mary Lombino, who had six digs on the evening. The shorter defensive lineup helped throw off the Mustangs enough to propel the Tigers through the first game.
Alyssa Todd also had two blocks in reserve duty and Jennifer Stice had some nice passes.
Trailing two games to one and tied at 15 in the fourth, Douglas seized control of the momentum with a 7-1 run that included two aces from Witteman, an ace from Hall and two booming Waggoner kills.
Douglas pushed ahead for the 25-19 victory, forcing the fifth game.
Douglas stayed close with the Mustangs in the fifth, pushing the score to 6-7 before a fault and two balls hit out of bounds pushed the Mustangs out 10-6. Colleen Carlson had two consecutive kills and the Tigers had three balls hit out to close the match.
Douglas dropped to 16-10 and 6-3 in league play.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
