Volleyball: Douglas breezes past Damonte Ranch

When Douglas volleyball coach Suzi Townsell scheduled last weekend's tournament in California, she was looking for a mid-season bump in competition to help the Tigers prepare for the final stretch of the regular season.

If Tuesday night's match against Damonte Ranch was any indication, the tournament served its purpose just fine.

Coming off a 6-1 performance at the Carmichael Invitational in Sacramento that saw the Tigers advance to the championship match against a powerful El Camino team, Douglas cruised past Damonte Ranch Tuesday night, winning 25-9, 25-20, 25-6.

The Tigers served up an impressive 15 aces against Damonte, including eight from senior Shannon Dugan, who also posted 14 kills, six digs and 20 service points.

"I think the tournament was just a really good set of teams and really good competition," Townsell said. "What you saw tonight was pretty much how they played all day on Saturday. It was a really good lead-in for what we're going to be facing these next few weeks.

"I was happy with how we carried over tonight what we worked on over the weekend."

Douglas' attack was superb against Damonte as Brenna White added 13 kills, Emily Garcia had seven, Keely Latham and Savannah Wood each chipped in two and Jackie Harper, Carly McCullough and Mia Townsell each had one.

Harper doled out 32 assists, Townsell had two and Latham and McCullough each added one.

Latham and White got in on the serving barrage, each coming up with two aces and Harper, Townsell and Amanda Wartgow each had one ace.

Defensively, Townsell had 13 digs, Harper had eight, White had three and McCullough, Latham and Wartgow each had two. Nikki Chavez and Dani Trujillo each had one. Garcia led the blocking line with a pair of blocks while Erin Allison and White each had one.

At the Carmichael tournament, Douglas breezed through its three pool play matches, sweeping each, and had an impressive win over Rio Americano, a team that beat Manogue earlier in the tournament, in the semifinals.

"The girls played really well and a lot of girls got some extra playing time," Townsell said. "It was a good tournament for us."

Douglas also had a nice comeback win over Ripon, fighting back from a 13-8 deficit to win.

"I love this team because they will fight," Townsell said. "They really want it and they will fight for it. As a coach, that's something you can't teach."

Douglas now stands at 24-2 on the year and 9-0 in league play.