Douglas volleyball sweeps Fallon

FALLON " The Douglas Tigers volleyball team remained undefeated in Sierra League play by defeating Fallon, 25-12, 25-23 and 25-8 on Thursday at Elmo Dericco Gym .

Fallon dropped to 0-8 in league play and 3-21 overall, losing for the 13th consecutive match.

The Tigers sprinted out to a 12-8 lead in the first game and didn't look back. Four kills down the stretch " two by Christine DuPuis and one each by Megan Mitchell and Jessica Waggoner " helped to put the Greenwave away in the opening game.

Then came the second game, and suddenly it was the Greenwave who jumped to a 12-8 lead. Nine Douglas errors accounted for most of the points in Fallon's opening run. Douglas followed with rally of its own to tie the score at 15. Kills by Waggoner and Jourdan Burke and another point by Burke aided in the comeback. The Douglas errors put Fallon back in front, 18-15, but Douglas closed the game with a 10-5 run. Four Fallon errors and along with a block by Waggoner helped the Tigers rally to take a 2-0 lead.

The third game was all Douglas. Five Greenwave errors and a kill by Emily Garcia produced a quick 6-0. Three Douglas errors and a block by Callie Black brought the Wave back to within 6-4, but Fallon would get no closer.

Douglas responded with a 12-1 run to snuff out any flickering hopes Fallon had. Kills by Mitchell and DuPuis started the run, and from there the Tigers strong service game took over, forcing Fallon to commit one error after another. DuPuis slammed another kill to end the match.

Fallon coach Natalie MacDonald saw some positives in her team's second loss of the season to the top ranked team in the Northern 4A.

"I thought we did really well in games one and two, but fell apart in game

three," MacDonald said. "They (Douglas) are the number one team and in the second game we were hanging with them."

Jessica Tanedo drew a rare start on the front row, and praise from her coach.

"She did a fabulous job," MacDonald said. "She's not our strongest hitter, but her coverage was phenomenal."

Douglas improved to 8-0 in league play with the win.

"We knew we were going to have to come in focused, and we did," Douglas coach Suzi Townsell said. "We played Douglas volleyball at our level. Our serving overall tonight was one of the strongest we've had."

Townsell's take on the second game was somewhat different from MacDonald's.

"In the second game we lapsed a little bit," Townsell said. "We kind of get these mental lapses, but we seem to work it out and get the win."