Carson volleyball falls to Galena

RENO - Galena avoided an all-Sierra league sweep Friday by dispatching the Carson Senators in three sets at the 2006 4A Northern Region Volleyball Tournament held at Galena High School.

The Lady Grizzlies, the top-seeded team from the High Desert League, faces Reno today at 2 p.m. in the semifinals. The championship game begins at 5 p.m.

Galena, the defending Class 4A champs, downed the Senators 25-15, 25-12 and 25-18.

Galena coach Teresa Burrows said her team executed well against Carson.

"We had good ball control and ran a very balanced attack," she said.

Burrows said she knew the Senators were a good, but young team experiencing regionals for the first time.

"Regional is a new season. It's high energy. You need to be able to play the game under control," she said.

Carson coach Shana Wilkins said her team didn't show up against Galena.

"My girls were kind of shell-shocked being in the regionals," she said.

Wilkins, however, said Galena did not do anything special to beat the Senators.

"We didn't have a lot of fire," she added.

The Grizzlies pounced on Carson, the Sierra League's No. 4 team, for an early 10-3 lead in the first set before the Senators called a timeout. Nancy Burrows gave a boost to Galena by serving three points, and she had help at the front row from Emily Aguiar.

Carson received a break when Galena was called for a net violation, but the Senators could not stop Galena's momentum despite scoring two points on Shannon Earwood's hard return and a Galena error at the net.

Galena, though, was able to counter Carson at the net with Amy Scott and Casey Burke.

The Senators cut Galena's lead to 21-15 on Danae Eckart's kill, but three straight errors and Burrows' game-ending kill dashed any hopes of a comeback.

Playing like a well-oiled machine, Galena jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second set before Carson received the ball.

Aguilar patrolled the front row, recording a block and a kill. Brooke Keever kept Carson off-guard with her serving.

Madison Hardy frustrated Carson with her one-handed, cross-court returns that eventually gave Galena a 20-11 lead.

Galena outscored the Senators 5-1 to end the match.

Burrows said Hardy's return makes her an additional offensive threat.

"She keeps them (opponents) honest," Burrows said.

A more inspired Senators crew played evenly with Galena during the first half of the third set.

Eckart kept Carson in the game with a well-paced tip at the net and a kill as the Senators trailed 7-6. Galena began to pull away when Bree Crook served six points. She had good support at the net from Scott and Burrows.

Lindsay Ford had 12 blocks, three digs and 21 assists, Earwood had seven blocks, three kills and two digs and Eckhart had seven kills, four digs, and two blocks for Carson. Madison Hardy had 24 assists, six kills and eight digs, Burrows had 16 digs and seven kills and Burke had 10 digs and nine kills for Galena.

DOUGLAS 3, MCQUEEN 1

Douglas, the third-seeded team from the Sierra League, stunned McQueen in four sets Friday in the opening round of the 2006 4A Northern Regional Volleyball Tournament at Galena High School.

Douglas plays at noon today in semifinal match against Damonte Ranch. The winner advances to the championship match at 5 p.m.

The Tigers defeated McQueen in four sets, 25-23, 25-21, 18-25 and 25-20.

The fourth set was tied seven times before Douglas settled down. After the Tigers' Bridgette Maestretti dumped the ball to McQueen to tie the set at 12-12, Douglas gradually pulled away as Jessica Waggoner had a block and kill for Douglas, while the Douglas front row handled the pressure at the net. Alex Risko caught the Lancers off-guard with her dump returns.

"Alex and Jessica helped set the momentum back for us," said Douglas coach Jorge Urgina.

McQueen's errors down the stretch gave the Tigers the win.

McQueen, the No. 2 seed from the High Desert League, rallied from a two-set deficit to win the third game.

Douglas took a 6-2 lead before the Lancers chipped away at the lead and tied the Tigers, 11-11. The lead changed hands three times before McQueen began to pull away from Douglas.

Four forced Douglas errors hurt the Tigers. Noelle Hernandez put the game away for McQueen with a kill and a soft return for the winning point.

DAMONTE RANCH 3, REED 0

The Lady Mustangs took another step toward their first Northern 4A regional title in volleyball by sweeping Reed in three sets, 27-25, 25-19 and 25-22.

Damonte, which won the Sierra League title, battled a scrappy Reed team. The Raiders tried to avoid the sweep in third set, trialing 22-15. Reed rattled off five straight points before Scharae Steel sealed the win with a kill down the middle of the floor.

The Mustangs face Douglas today in the semifinal match.

Colleen Carlson paced Damonte with 19 kills, four digs and three assists. Shariece Steele had nine kills, eight digs and seven blocks, while Scharae Steele drilled 13 kills. Brandie Sharp led Damonte with 35 assists. Sabrina Blajos finished the match with 14 digs.

RENO 3, FALLON 1

Elizabeth Hennenberg, Reno High School's 6-foot-1 middle blocker, keyed a fourth set comeback Friday as the Huskies eliminated the Lady Wave in the first round of the 2006 4A Northern Region Volleyball Tournament at Galena High School.

The Lady Huskies posted scores of 25-14, 23-23, 19-25 and 27-25 to improve to 16-2. Fallon falls to 15-8.

Reno plays the winner of the Galena this afternoon.

"It's disheartening. We had them on the ropes," said first-year Fallon coach Derik Mullen, referring to the fourth set.