Truckee volleyball | Wolverines take care of Douglas in four | SierraSun.com
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Truckee volleyball | Wolverines take care of Douglas in four

Sylas Wright
Sierra Sun
Sylas Wright / Sierra SunKiersten Knoppel smashes one of her 10 kills during Wednesday's match. Truckee won in four games.
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TRUCKEE and#8212; Unforced errors, including uncharacteristic struggles with their serving game, did not hurt the Wolverines in the end as they rallied to beat visiting Douglas in four games, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22 and 25-13, on Wednesday.

and#8220;I thought we definitely could have played better,and#8221; said Truckee outside hitter Krysta Murphy, who led the Wolverines with 11 kills. and#8220;But the last game we pulled it out and played better. I think we still have improvements to make, but we’re getting better every game.and#8221;

Long rallies were few and far between in the nonleague match, particularly early on as both teams gave away points with errant serves or kill attempts into the net or smashed out of bounds.



Truckee finished just 80 percent serving on the night, said assistant coach Kim Thomas. and#8220;It was a struggle,and#8221; she said. and#8220;We’ve never done that.and#8221;

The Wolverines (6-6) scored the first point of the opening set and never trailed. Douglas (6-6) stayed within striking distance, however, tying the score at 8-apiece after Truckee jumped out to a 7-2 lead. But the hosts built their advantage to seven points late, at 23-16, and held off a small Tigers run to take the first game.



Douglas fought back in the second set, and the teams traded leads until the Tigers rattled off six straight points for a 9-4 advantage. After a Kaylee Lewis kill ended the run, Truckee scratched and clawed until knotting the score at 17. But the Tigers quickly regained the lead, then built it back to seven, until Murphy recorded a kill at game point. Truckee scored three straight before Douglas put it away.

and#8220;They did OK,and#8221; Douglas head coach Suzi Townsell said of her team. and#8220;They started off with good energy but then they started playing individually, which makes a difference.and#8221;

The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead in the third set before the Wolverines outscored the visitors 14-4, prompting a timeout from Townsell as the Truckee lead stretched to seven. Douglas scrapped to catch up, and made several runs behind the serving of Amanda Wartgow, Hayley Cline and Katie McCullough.

Senior outside hitter Annie Reiswig blasted back-to-back kills late, and senior middle blocker Kiersten Knoppel ended the game with a deft kill in which she sent the ball back across her body, opposite her momentum, while running to her right.

and#8220;I thought Douglas did a very good job covering on defense and communicating, especially on long rallies,and#8221; said Truckee head coach Erika Murphy. and#8220;They didn’t want to let it drop.and#8221;

After a closely contested start to the fourth set, Truckee pulled away when Reiswig strung together 11 consecutive serves, extending an 11-10 lead to 22-10 before McCullough ended the streak with a Douglas point.

Knoppel tallied 10 kills for the Wolverines, while Reiswig finished with nine kills and four service aces, and Lewis had eight kills. Brittany Thomas had 28 assists.

Wartgow led the Douglas offense with nine kills, and Hailey Sclafani had 12 assists.


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