Warrior VB Falls To Minutemen Thursday
September 18, 2021 at 4:10 a.m.
Warrior VB Falls To Minutemen Thursday
By Anthony Anderson-
Winning in the rugged Northern Lakes Conference, that’s been a taller task, one the Warriors are still trying to master on a consistent basis.
Visiting Wawasee lost 3-1 to Concord in an NLC matchup Thursday night at McCuen Gym, dropping to 1-2 in league play to go with what’s still a glistening 12-2 record overall.
That discrepancy in success outside the conference and inside is not an unfamiliar one.
A year ago, the Warriors went 22-12 overall, yet 1-6 in the league.
“Everybody’s good in the NLC and it’s always emotional,” Wawasee coach Jeff Phillips said. “Tonight was a match we really wanted, but we’re still 12 and 2 and feeling confident as a team.”
“It’s tough in the NLC,” Concord coach Kelly Chupp agreed. “You want to beat these teams and they want to beat you. It used to be that Memorial (which has since merged with Central into Elkhart High and left the league) was kind of our rival, but now every team in the conference is so competitive. There are no breaks.”
Chupp’s Minutemen won the opening set 25-16. Phillips’ Warriors rallied to take the second 25-21, before Concord prevailed 25-14 and 25-18 over the final two sets.
“They’re a good team,” Phillips said. “We made some adjustments after set one. Our (blocking) was a lot better after that, but there were probably some pockets where our serve-receive let down for segments too long.”
The Minutemen (10-5, 2-2) were powered by an “offense that was better than our offense,” according to Phillips, “and that made a difference.”
Ultra-efficient right-side senior hitter Sophia Trout keyed Concord with her whistling left-handed kills, racking up 17 against just three hitting errors.
“That’s amazing,” Chupp said of the ratio. “Usually, she’s a little bit better than even there.”
The winning coach came away impressed by Wawasee as well.
“Their setter’s good,” Chupp said of junior Amanda Allen, who had 22 assists. “I feel like their offense was good because of their setter, and then they served aggressively and their attacking in the middle was really good. (Leslie Vazquez) is really versatile. She was hitting on the front row, the back, outside, middle. We kept saying ‘track No. 7, track 7, find 7.’ I thought our blockers did a good job of tracking their hitters.”
Vazquez led the Warriors with nine kills. Fellow senior Dylan Konieczny added eight.
For the Minutemen, junior Macie Swinehart notched nine and senior Ellen Norwood eight to complement Trout’s dominance.
After Concord ruled the third set, the hosts also led 16-10 in the fourth, before Wawasee scrapped to as close as 19-18.
The Minutemen, though, ran off the final six points to close the match.
“I was proud of us for continuing to play,” Phillips said. “There was no give-up, but we’ve got some things to work on against better opponents. We gotta be able to put balls away at a little higher percentage against a team like that.”
On the plus side, according to Phillips, “I thought our defense played really well. Our blocking was good and our serving was pretty solid.”
Konieczny recorded 13 digs and a pair of aces to lead the Warriors in each. She also notched three solo blocks, highlighted by the fourth-set clincher.
Senior Amber Beer was in on five blocks, including at least three solos. Vazquez had a part in five blocks, too, to go with nine digs.
Senior libero Elizabeth Miller added a dozen digs.
For the Minutemen, sophomore libero Baylee Franklin chalked up 28 digs and five aces, while Swinehart was in on a half-dozen blocks.
Wawasee took the JV contest 25-24, 25-13.
Both varsity clubs return to action Saturday, with Concord heading to the Michigan City Invitational, while the Warriors host an eight-team invite of their own.
“That will be a nice chance to go into our home gym for four matches, hopefully win a trophy and reset ourselves,” Phillips said. “This loss hurts, but we’ve got a chance to come back and play four good matches, get in some good practices and play Warsaw next Thursday.”
Winning in the rugged Northern Lakes Conference, that’s been a taller task, one the Warriors are still trying to master on a consistent basis.
Visiting Wawasee lost 3-1 to Concord in an NLC matchup Thursday night at McCuen Gym, dropping to 1-2 in league play to go with what’s still a glistening 12-2 record overall.
That discrepancy in success outside the conference and inside is not an unfamiliar one.
A year ago, the Warriors went 22-12 overall, yet 1-6 in the league.
“Everybody’s good in the NLC and it’s always emotional,” Wawasee coach Jeff Phillips said. “Tonight was a match we really wanted, but we’re still 12 and 2 and feeling confident as a team.”
“It’s tough in the NLC,” Concord coach Kelly Chupp agreed. “You want to beat these teams and they want to beat you. It used to be that Memorial (which has since merged with Central into Elkhart High and left the league) was kind of our rival, but now every team in the conference is so competitive. There are no breaks.”
Chupp’s Minutemen won the opening set 25-16. Phillips’ Warriors rallied to take the second 25-21, before Concord prevailed 25-14 and 25-18 over the final two sets.
“They’re a good team,” Phillips said. “We made some adjustments after set one. Our (blocking) was a lot better after that, but there were probably some pockets where our serve-receive let down for segments too long.”
The Minutemen (10-5, 2-2) were powered by an “offense that was better than our offense,” according to Phillips, “and that made a difference.”
Ultra-efficient right-side senior hitter Sophia Trout keyed Concord with her whistling left-handed kills, racking up 17 against just three hitting errors.
“That’s amazing,” Chupp said of the ratio. “Usually, she’s a little bit better than even there.”
The winning coach came away impressed by Wawasee as well.
“Their setter’s good,” Chupp said of junior Amanda Allen, who had 22 assists. “I feel like their offense was good because of their setter, and then they served aggressively and their attacking in the middle was really good. (Leslie Vazquez) is really versatile. She was hitting on the front row, the back, outside, middle. We kept saying ‘track No. 7, track 7, find 7.’ I thought our blockers did a good job of tracking their hitters.”
Vazquez led the Warriors with nine kills. Fellow senior Dylan Konieczny added eight.
For the Minutemen, junior Macie Swinehart notched nine and senior Ellen Norwood eight to complement Trout’s dominance.
After Concord ruled the third set, the hosts also led 16-10 in the fourth, before Wawasee scrapped to as close as 19-18.
The Minutemen, though, ran off the final six points to close the match.
“I was proud of us for continuing to play,” Phillips said. “There was no give-up, but we’ve got some things to work on against better opponents. We gotta be able to put balls away at a little higher percentage against a team like that.”
On the plus side, according to Phillips, “I thought our defense played really well. Our blocking was good and our serving was pretty solid.”
Konieczny recorded 13 digs and a pair of aces to lead the Warriors in each. She also notched three solo blocks, highlighted by the fourth-set clincher.
Senior Amber Beer was in on five blocks, including at least three solos. Vazquez had a part in five blocks, too, to go with nine digs.
Senior libero Elizabeth Miller added a dozen digs.
For the Minutemen, sophomore libero Baylee Franklin chalked up 28 digs and five aces, while Swinehart was in on a half-dozen blocks.
Wawasee took the JV contest 25-24, 25-13.
Both varsity clubs return to action Saturday, with Concord heading to the Michigan City Invitational, while the Warriors host an eight-team invite of their own.
“That will be a nice chance to go into our home gym for four matches, hopefully win a trophy and reset ourselves,” Phillips said. “This loss hurts, but we’ve got a chance to come back and play four good matches, get in some good practices and play Warsaw next Thursday.”
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