Marin Collins (5) puts away one of her seven kills Monday night in Douglas' regional quarterfinal win over Carson. Douglas volleyball turns around and takes on Reno tonight in the regional semifinal.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
For Douglas High senior Fiona Mora, Monday night’s 3-0 win over Carson High in the Class 5A regional quarterfinal meant plenty.
Mora, Caitlyn Stephens and Kate Talia had yet to advance out of the first round of the postseason in their high school career.
That’s no longer the case after Monday night behind a 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 win.
“As a senior, we just wanted it really bad,” said Mora. “For the four years, I’ve been playing with this program I haven’t made it past the first round of regionals. … I think it just pushed all of us to want to win.”
Quick starts
All three sets started in favor of the Tigers.
Douglas jumped out to an early lead in all three sets.
In the first set, the Tigers led 15-9 before holding off a late Senator push.
The second set looked as though it was going to be all Douglas as the orange and black ran up a 15-5 lead in the first 20 points.
However, Carson turned the tide out of a timeout and cut the deficit to just one, 18-17, before Douglas ended the set with four straight points.
Sofia Kolbe and Marin Collins led the Douglas attack with eight and seven kills, respectively. Kolbe also had seven service aces, including four-in-a-row at the beginning of the third set.
Talia recorded 10 digs while Mora was the assist leader for the Tigers with 15.
The Tigers know that in order to best a talented Reno (6-0) team, they’ll have to put themselves in a position to work from in front.
“Come in with the same energy as we did today. Start out strong, lead the team and fight for it,” said Stephens.
“We need to make sure we keep our focus on our side,” said Mora.
Reno has only dropped one set this season and beat Douglas 3-0 in the season opener back on March 4.
With such a short season, Douglas’ seniors were able to take in the final match on their home floor.
The last game in Minden had some normalcy to it as well.
“Having fans, it felt so normal, …the adrenaline,” said Mora. “I’m so excited for tomorrow (this evening) regardless of the outcome.”
It’ll be just the ninth match of the year for Douglas, with a shot at one more should the Tigers pull the upset.
“I’m just excited to play one more time,” said Stephens.
Reno and Douglas are set to start at 6 p.m. this evening.
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