Douglas tops Carson in four

The Douglas Tigers topped Carson in four games to secure a spot in next week's Division I volleyball playoffs.

After Douglas won the first two games, 25-20 and 25-19, Carson mounted a rally to win the third game, 25-19.

The Tigers, likely the third seed in the Sierra League behind Bishop Manogue and Galena, turned it around with a 25-19 win in the fourth game to grab the victory.

Carson, 6-10 in league, must wait to find out the results of Thursday's Wooster-Manogue game to see if the Senators play on. Carson owned the tiebreaker against Wooster.

The Tigers, 7-9 in league, built a 17-7 lead in the opening game on the strength of strong play at the net by Jenna Broussard and Katie McCollough. Carson fought its way back with several small runs to pull within four at 24-20, but couldn't handle a ball in the back court, giving Douglas the win.

Carson held the lead or was tied throughout the second game until Douglas put together three straight points on a kill by McCollough, a kill by Shawnee McFadden and a block by McFadden to take a 17-15 lead. The Senators managed to tie it up at 17 on a block by Kenzie Price and Gabrielle Palazzolo. Douglas regained the momentum by scoring eight of the last 10 points.

The third game was just as close with both teams playing excellent defense and neither able to gain an advantage until Carson put together a 6-0 run after being tied at 17. Carson got an ace from Savannah Smith and several errors from the Tigers to get the win.

The Senators looked strong in the final game, building a 15-11 lead before giving up six straight points to let the Tigers back in. Carson tied the game again at 17, but Douglas had the mojo, putting together another 6-0 run. Broussard got two key blocks and McFadden had two kills and a block in the run as Douglas proved too strong at the end.

"They really turned it around and played good defense and served really well and that's a good channel to success," said Douglas coach Suzie Townsell. "Our team, all year, has kinda been like that. It's a good testament to their ability to fight. When we're down a couple points, I feel good about the girls keeping calm and just playing volleyball."

"My seniors stepped up. My goodness, the two girls who were in the front row, Shawnee McFadden and Jenna Broussard, they really finished the game well."

Carson coach Robert Maw was sanguine about his teams performance.

"One thing we've been faced with all year is a lack of communication," Maw said. "We don't want to talk or we don't want to listen. It's hard for them to understand that communication is a two-way street sometimes. We do well when we play as one, and the times we get really frustrated, is when we play as six individuals on the court, and that's kind of what happened tonight. Our passing was actually decent, but it's just lack of communication on the scramble plays that kills us."

Danielle Good led the Senators with one ace, 10 kills and 11 digs. Smith had one ace, six kills and nine digs, and Kenzie Price had one ace, four kills and five digs and 11 assists.