RENO - One of the hardest things to do in sport is beat a team three times in the same year.
That is magnified when that team is your rival.
For the first game of Friday night's 4A regional semifinal volleyball match it looked like that sentiment could come to fruition.
However, top-seeded Douglas held off four game points in the opening game and went on to a 29-27, 25-11 and 25-9 win over Carson.
The Tigers (33-2 overall) will meet Bishop Manogue at 5 p.m. today in the Northern 4A regional title game.
Manogue outlasted Reno, 25-18, 27-25, 22-25, 22-25 and 15-11 in the other semifinal.
Underdog Carson came into the game loose and play confidently while quickly building a 6-1 lead in the opening game. Carson held a 14-7 lead before Douglas started chipping away. It was 18-12, 22-20 and then 22-22.
Carson earned its first game point with a 24-22 lead, however Douglas fought it off. The game was tied at 24, 25, 26, and 27 before the Tigers prevailed.
In the second game Douglas jumped out to an 8-3 lead, extended it to 10 (17-7) and then 12 (22-10 ) en route to the 25-11 win. In game three Carson was down 12-0 and could never recover.
Earlier this season Douglas had swept Carson in both league matches.
Leading Douglas was Brenna White with 11 kills, a block, four aces and eight service points; Shannon Dugan nine kills, two blocks, six digs, an assists and 18 service points; Emily Garcia had six kills, and three blocks; Keely Latham had five kills, a block, two assists and a service point; Erin Allison had three kills, two digs, an assists and four service points; Jackie Harper had a kill, six service points, and led the team with 31 assists and seven digs; Mia Townsell had two kills, seven digs four points and an assist.
