Tennis: Lady Tigers suffer first loss at home

The Douglas High School girls' tennis team ran into its toughest test of the young 2006 season, taking on unbeaten South Tahoe in Minden Tuesday afternoon.

The Vikings got steady play from its doubles squads, taking eight of nine matches, to win 13-5.

It was the first team loss for the Lady Tigers after wins against Spanish Springs and Hug last week.

The previously unbeaten duo of Kristy Jilk and Cesarina Ceglia suffered their first losses of the season as well, but not before running their win streak to six during the first round Tuesday with a comeback victory over South Tahoe's No. 2 squad.

The Vikings' duo was dominating with its serves and aggressive play at the net, but Jilk and Ceglia kept in the match with steady play at the baseline and forcing errors on South Tahoe's side after long rally points.

Jilk and Ceglia gained considerable momentum after coming back to win one of Jilk's service games late in the match. They held on from there, pushing ahead to a 7-5 first round victory.

It would be Douglas' only doubles victory of the afternoon.

Singles players Morgan Barone and Samantha Barns each picked up two victories to account for the remainder of the Tigers' scoring.

Barone evened her record out at 4-4 on the year and Barns improved to 6-3.

The Lady Tigers dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Sierra League play. They took on Wooster in Reno Thursday.

BOYS

Douglas hung in against a tough South Tahoe squad, but couldn't get the final push it needed, dropping a 10-8 decision to the Vikings at the Lake Tuesday.

Robert Shawhan suffered his first loss of the season at the hands of South Tahoe Jimmy Roberts, who accounted for one of Shawhan's five losses last season.

Shawhan was able to recover and soundly defeat his two remaining opponents to improve to 8-1 on the year.

Matt McLaughlin and Marshall Jessup each added a singles victory for the Tigers.

Douglas' No. 1 doubles team of Trevor Mitchell and Josh Vega improved to 6-2 on the year with 6-3 and 6-4 victories against the Vikings.

Spike Neri and Andrew Soloman teamed up for one win against South Tahoe and John McLaughlin and Kevin Sacherman added another.

Douglas dropped to 1-2 on the year with the loss, losing their second 10-8 decision in as many weeks. They hosted Wooster Thursday afternon. The results of that match will be in Sunday's edition.

-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.