Warsaw Beats Concord, Captures Conference Title On Senior Night
October 7, 2022 at 1:40 a.m.
Warsaw Beats Concord, Captures Conference Title On Senior Night
By Connor McCann-
The three players would not just leave the Tiger Den with flowers and the admiration of their peers. The trio, and the team, would be taking home some hardware.
After clinching at least a share of the Northern Lakes Conference championship in a 3-0 win over NorthWood last week, the Tigers would take care of Concord in straight sets to claim the conference title outright. Warsaw finishes its regular season at 20-8, undefeated at 7-0 in the NLC.
“Winning tonight was just icing on the cake. For these girls and the careers they’ve had, this senior year has really been special,” head coach Chandra Hepler said. “It’s really special seeing all of their hard work and devotion pay off.”
The first set featured competitive points from the get-go. Each team would handle the ball multiple times a point before it would finally reach the ground. Concord would take an early 3-1 lead before a big kill by junior Ava Egolf would start to turn momentum.
Weeks would pick up where Egolf left off. The senior put together a plethora of early kills, highlighted by an incredible cross-court kill that had fans up from their seats. Warsaw would take its first lead of the night at 6-5 and not look back. The Minutemen were forced to call for timeout with the score at 13-8 in favor of the Tigers. A few possessions later, Weeks would pick up the first of her two aces to extend the lead to 15-9. Warsaw would score 10 of the next eleven points to win set one 25-10.
Set two would follow a similar formula. After the Tigers jumped out to a 3-1 lead, Concord would tie the game at 4. Warsaw would go up 7-4, and once again the Minutemen would crawl back. The Tigers would again find some separation with a lead of 14-9 before a Concord timeout.
Warsaw would keep it rolling after the stoppage in play, scoring three more points to extend the lead to 17-9. The Minutemen would not let the second set go by as easily as the first. Concord would answer with five straight points to cut the lead to three. Once again though, it would be Warsaw with the final run as the Tigers would score six in a row from there to take a commanding lead. Junior Leah Henderson would punctuate the second game with one of her 10 kills to win the set 25-17.
“Our offense is a faster paced offense than most, so when we face off against a slower one our timing can get off and we fall into the trap. Once we started getting aggressive that’s when we were able to start growing those leads,” Hepler said.
The third and final set would be the most competitive of the bunch. Concord would jump out to a 4-1 lead before the Tigers would mount another comeback to tie the game. The Minutemen would answer with four more points of their own. Not to be outdone, Warsaw would score six unanswered for its first lead of the set.
The two teams would remain deadlocked as points began to pile up. The sides would share ties at 13, 15 and 17 points before two straight by Concord would force Hepler to call timeout for the first time in the match trailing 19-17.
“I pretty much just told them to refocus during the timeout, they had the confidence and were getting the momentum but sometimes all it takes is refocusing,“ Hepler said.
It would pay off, as the team would rattle off five straight points to take a 22-19 lead. A few plays later, Weeks would close the door with her eleventh kill of the night. The Tigers would finish off the sweep with a 25-22 victory to secure the conference crown.
“I’m just so proud of these girls, almost like a mom looking at her kids. They did it, and I’m beyond proud,” Hepler said.
Warsaw volleyball is the fourth girls’ sports team at the school to win their conference championship this fall, following the Lady Tigers' soccer, golf and cross-country teams. The Tigers will have a week off before taking on Elkhart in the first round of sectional play at Penn High School Thursday evening.
“Our two goals this season were to win conference and to win a sectional championship,” Hepler said. “Right now we’ve got the mentality of one day at a time, one rep at a time, trusting the process, celebrating the moment.”
The three players would not just leave the Tiger Den with flowers and the admiration of their peers. The trio, and the team, would be taking home some hardware.
After clinching at least a share of the Northern Lakes Conference championship in a 3-0 win over NorthWood last week, the Tigers would take care of Concord in straight sets to claim the conference title outright. Warsaw finishes its regular season at 20-8, undefeated at 7-0 in the NLC.
“Winning tonight was just icing on the cake. For these girls and the careers they’ve had, this senior year has really been special,” head coach Chandra Hepler said. “It’s really special seeing all of their hard work and devotion pay off.”
The first set featured competitive points from the get-go. Each team would handle the ball multiple times a point before it would finally reach the ground. Concord would take an early 3-1 lead before a big kill by junior Ava Egolf would start to turn momentum.
Weeks would pick up where Egolf left off. The senior put together a plethora of early kills, highlighted by an incredible cross-court kill that had fans up from their seats. Warsaw would take its first lead of the night at 6-5 and not look back. The Minutemen were forced to call for timeout with the score at 13-8 in favor of the Tigers. A few possessions later, Weeks would pick up the first of her two aces to extend the lead to 15-9. Warsaw would score 10 of the next eleven points to win set one 25-10.
Set two would follow a similar formula. After the Tigers jumped out to a 3-1 lead, Concord would tie the game at 4. Warsaw would go up 7-4, and once again the Minutemen would crawl back. The Tigers would again find some separation with a lead of 14-9 before a Concord timeout.
Warsaw would keep it rolling after the stoppage in play, scoring three more points to extend the lead to 17-9. The Minutemen would not let the second set go by as easily as the first. Concord would answer with five straight points to cut the lead to three. Once again though, it would be Warsaw with the final run as the Tigers would score six in a row from there to take a commanding lead. Junior Leah Henderson would punctuate the second game with one of her 10 kills to win the set 25-17.
“Our offense is a faster paced offense than most, so when we face off against a slower one our timing can get off and we fall into the trap. Once we started getting aggressive that’s when we were able to start growing those leads,” Hepler said.
The third and final set would be the most competitive of the bunch. Concord would jump out to a 4-1 lead before the Tigers would mount another comeback to tie the game. The Minutemen would answer with four more points of their own. Not to be outdone, Warsaw would score six unanswered for its first lead of the set.
The two teams would remain deadlocked as points began to pile up. The sides would share ties at 13, 15 and 17 points before two straight by Concord would force Hepler to call timeout for the first time in the match trailing 19-17.
“I pretty much just told them to refocus during the timeout, they had the confidence and were getting the momentum but sometimes all it takes is refocusing,“ Hepler said.
It would pay off, as the team would rattle off five straight points to take a 22-19 lead. A few plays later, Weeks would close the door with her eleventh kill of the night. The Tigers would finish off the sweep with a 25-22 victory to secure the conference crown.
“I’m just so proud of these girls, almost like a mom looking at her kids. They did it, and I’m beyond proud,” Hepler said.
Warsaw volleyball is the fourth girls’ sports team at the school to win their conference championship this fall, following the Lady Tigers' soccer, golf and cross-country teams. The Tigers will have a week off before taking on Elkhart in the first round of sectional play at Penn High School Thursday evening.
“Our two goals this season were to win conference and to win a sectional championship,” Hepler said. “Right now we’ve got the mentality of one day at a time, one rep at a time, trusting the process, celebrating the moment.”
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