Volleyball: Tigers claim control of Sierra League race

Plenty of storylines stood on the opposite side of the net for the Douglas High School volleyball team Tuesday night.

Defending Sierra League champs. Defending Northern 4A champs. Defending state champs. Former coach. Former teammates. The team that ended Douglas' season last year and the team that stole the league title away from Minden for the first time since the creation of the Sierra League.

The Damonte Ranch Mustangs brought it all into the Douglas High gym, but the Tigers sent them away with a loss in three quick games, taking early control of the league title chase.

The match, which lasted a little over an hour, featured some fantastic rally points with back and forth fingertip saves and solid net play from each team.

What it came down to, however, was Douglas' ability to come up with the big plays when they counted the most.

After breezing through the first game 25-17, staving off a late 6-0 run from the Mustangs, the Tigers pushed ahead for a 26-24 win in a back-and-forth second game and came back from four down late in the third for a 25-23 win to put the match away.

The final game was perhaps the most impressive for the Tigers as far as clutch play goes. Damonte Ranch appeared ready to take full control of the momentum by building a 21-17 lead after trading points evenly with the Tigers up to a 15-all tie.

Megan Mitchell set up Taryn Williams and Jourdan Burke for kills on consecutive plays to bring the Tigers back within two points, forcing a Mustang timeout.

The Mustangs committed an error on the next point and committed a palm-ball on the next, tying the game up at 21.

Another Mitchell-to-Burke kill put Douglas up but Damonte's Scharae Steel, who played for the Tigers as a freshman, recorded a kill to tie the game back up.

Damonte committed a service error on the next point, but Douglas then sent the ball out on the following play for a 23-23 tie.

The Tigers pushed ahead with a Mitchell-to-Jessica Waggoner kill and put the game and the match away on a strong kill from Burke off the hands of Mitchell.

Mitchell finished with 33 assists while Williams had 12 kills and Burke had 11.

Waggoner had six kills, Mitchell had three nifty tip kills and Alyssa Todd finished with three as well.

Todd's serving helped the Tigers take early control of the match after Damonte opened up a 7-4 lead.

Mitchell set up Williams for a kill to give the Tigers a side out and Todd proceeded to serve the next seven points, giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead with an impressive string that included three aces.

Douglas went on to build a 24-11 lead before Damonte's late run, but the Tigers pulled the game out with a kill from Todd.

Douglas' serving on the whole was exceptional, with Mary Lombino, Mitchell and Williams each recording two aces.

Mitchell finished with 33 assists while Williams had 12 kills and Burke had 11.

Waggoner had six kills, Mitchell had three nifty tip kills and Alyssa Todd finished with three as well.

Todd's serving helped the Tigers take early control of the match after Damonte opened up a 7-4 lead.

Mitchell set up Williams for a kill to give the Tigers a side out and Todd proceeded to serve the next seven points, giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead with an impressive string that included three aces.

Douglas went on to build a 24-11 lead before Damonte's late run, but the Tigers pulled the game out with a kill from Todd.

Douglas' serving on the whole was exceptional, with Mary Lombino, Mitchell and Williams each recording two aces.

Lombino was a defensive force with nine digs to lead the team. Burke had four, Mitchell and Waggoner each had three, Mysta Townsell and Williams each had two and Jordan Marsh had one.

Douglas' block line was strong as well with Waggoner recording nine blocks, Burke finishing with seven, Bridget Maestretti turning in six and Mitchell finishing with three.

Melissa Brown and Todd each had two and Allie Hughes finished with one.

Steel finished with 12 kills, seven digs and seven blocks while Chaiymin Steel had 18 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks for the Mustangs.

Douglas improved to 18-3 overall and 3-0 in Sierra League play.