ELKHART – Warsaw volleyball avenged an early season loss in dominant fashion Thursday night, taking down Elkhart 3-0 in the first round of the IHSAA 4A S4 sectional tournament. The Lions had defeated the Tigers back in August 2-1.

“The first time we played, we had three starters injured and I think it makes a big difference to have your more experienced players on the court,” Warsaw head coach Chandra Hepler said. “I’m super proud of the girls because out of 18 on my roster, 10 have never played in a sectional before. They came to play and I don’t think they let the fact that this was a sectional bother them at all.”

The first two sets shared many similarities. Warsaw and Elkhart would trade points for the first ten or so before the Tigers would make a run to go ahead. In the matches’ first game, Warsaw broke ahead big after a 6-6 deadlock, stringing together five straight points, including two aces. The Tigers would go up 24-17 before fighting off one last Lion run to win the first game 25-22.

The second game wasn’t much different as the two teams traded points early before a big Tiger run put Warsaw in the drivers seat. Down in the match 20-13, Elkhart would close in, scoring four straight points. Warsaw would finish the job from there, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-17 victory.

“Mental toughness has really been what we focused on in the last half of the season.

When we make a mistake sometimes its hard to shake that off so I think when teams make runs it’s because we’re not forgetting the mistake that just happened,” Hepler said.

The third game is where Warsaw separated itself early. The Tigers went up early thanks to some great defensive play, and took a 24-13 advantage. Elkhart made one final push and was able to get the score to 24-19, but Warsaw was able to secure one last point and the straight set victory.

“When you get to sectionals it’s a whole new level. I saw early on they were tipping and had short serves and this week we picked up on that, worked a lot on that and executed really well,” Hepler said. “But when you get to sectionals it can be a very intimidating environment if you haven’t been in it before. You’d have no idea ten of our players haven’t played in it.”

Statistical leaders for the Tigers included senior Kylie Smith with four aces and 17 digs.  Senior Allison Heinrich had ten kills, and along with junior Ava Silveus, posted a perfect 3.0 passing average. Junior captain Avery Hales was everywhere as usual, scoring four aces and racking up 30 assists to go along with nine digs.

“All of our passers did a phenomenal job. Every one of our girls did a great job. Avery always dishes the ball where it needs to be, she handles the ball in crucial times,” Hepler said. “Abby stepped in and took control in the first set. I could say something about every one of our players.”

Next up for the Tigers is a matchup with Northridge at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the sectional championship.

“I think my players know that our record isn’t where we want it to be but our strength of schedule is up near the top,” Hepler said. “So we know we can’t look at another team’s record and assume they won’t be good. We worry more about our side of the court and how we take care of the court rather than how the other side does. Our girls can play with anybody.”