Tiger Volleyball Breaks Through, Wins Sectional Crown
October 16, 2022 at 9:06 p.m.
Tiger Volleyball Breaks Through, Wins Sectional Crown
By Connor McCann-
For the first time in Hepler’s tenure, both goals have been achieved. The team followed up a perfect 7-0 record in conference play with wins over Elkhart, Penn and Concord in IHSAA 4A Sectional 4 to claim the school’s first sectional title since 2018.
“Every mountain we climbed and every valley we made it through prepared us for this moment,” Hepler said after the team’s 3-0 win over Concord in the final. “These girls have been phenomenal all season long no matter what they were faced with. My heart is bursting with how proud I am of them.”
Sharing Hepler’s pride were senior leaders Avery Hales and Kaylee Weeks.
“Our goal every single year has been to win this sectional,” Hales said. “We were not going out without one. There were some people calling this a rebuilding year for us coming into the season and that pushed some buttons over here. We knew what this team could do.”
“It all starts with our team and how we work together. We wanted to show our potential and not be the potential team. I’m ecstatic right now, this feels like a dream,” Weeks added.
It was a dominant performance in the championship game, which Warsaw won 25-16, 25-12, 25-17. Like the first matchup, which took place just eleven days ago, the Minutemen made life difficult early in sets for the Tigers, trading points and not allowing Warsaw to separate. After a sluggish start, the Tigers were able to open it up and cruise to victory. Warsaw’s third senior, defensive specialist Delaney Silveus, had three aces in the match, including two in the final five points to help clinch the title.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Tigers 3-1 victory over the Kingsmen in the semifinal. Penn had ended Warsaw’s season in each of the last three years. In an early season matchup, Warsaw took the first two sets against Penn before dropping the final three. In the semifinal match, things got off to a similar start. The Tigers won the first two sets with little resistance and the Kingsmen took the third in impressive fashion. Penn got out to a 7-1 lead in set four and seemed to have all momentum on its side before a lightning quick turnaround tied the game at 13 and gave the team its first lead at 14-13, which put Warsaw in front for good.
“That was a huge statement for us. We’ve worked on the mental aspect of the game all season long with The Mental Edge and these girls have learned to trust the process to get the results,” Hepler said. “All of that is what came together for us in that fourth set.”
Weeks reached the milestone of 1,000 kills in her career in the second set of the semifinal and finished with 44 on the day.
Also putting in a huge effort throughout both games was junior middle blocker Leah Henderson, who had a massive presence at the net, putting up ten blocks over the course of two games to go with her 28 kills.
“The focus with Leah has been staying aggressive and trusting herself. She has put in a lot of effort and hard work and to see it paying off is amazing,” Hepler said.
The Tigers have won their last six games while dropping just two sets.
“Playing with this team is so easy. We’re a cohesive unit with our energy and enthusiasm on the court,” Weeks said. “We love to show what we have and this team is really special.”
“Special is definitely the right word,” Hales continued. “When you look at last year’s team and this year’s, the biggest difference is how much we’ve come together. It’s why I took so much offense to people writing us off early because that part of the game is so underrated, especially in high school sports.”
Warsaw will have a week to prepare for their regional semifinal game against La Porte at La Porte High School Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. The victor of Crown Point and Lake Central will await the winner on the other side of the bracket. La Porte defeated Warsaw 2-0 at a tournament earlier this season.
“This team is so selfless, celebrating each other’s accomplishments more than their own,” Hepler said. “The main thing is to keep our players fresh and focused. This is going to be a new experience for us but we’ve got to stay the course.”
“You go from playing two or three games a week to not playing at all in the playoffs, which can be the hardest thing to deal with,” Hales said. “We’ll be watching film and getting ready to try and keep this going.”
For the first time in Hepler’s tenure, both goals have been achieved. The team followed up a perfect 7-0 record in conference play with wins over Elkhart, Penn and Concord in IHSAA 4A Sectional 4 to claim the school’s first sectional title since 2018.
“Every mountain we climbed and every valley we made it through prepared us for this moment,” Hepler said after the team’s 3-0 win over Concord in the final. “These girls have been phenomenal all season long no matter what they were faced with. My heart is bursting with how proud I am of them.”
Sharing Hepler’s pride were senior leaders Avery Hales and Kaylee Weeks.
“Our goal every single year has been to win this sectional,” Hales said. “We were not going out without one. There were some people calling this a rebuilding year for us coming into the season and that pushed some buttons over here. We knew what this team could do.”
“It all starts with our team and how we work together. We wanted to show our potential and not be the potential team. I’m ecstatic right now, this feels like a dream,” Weeks added.
It was a dominant performance in the championship game, which Warsaw won 25-16, 25-12, 25-17. Like the first matchup, which took place just eleven days ago, the Minutemen made life difficult early in sets for the Tigers, trading points and not allowing Warsaw to separate. After a sluggish start, the Tigers were able to open it up and cruise to victory. Warsaw’s third senior, defensive specialist Delaney Silveus, had three aces in the match, including two in the final five points to help clinch the title.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Tigers 3-1 victory over the Kingsmen in the semifinal. Penn had ended Warsaw’s season in each of the last three years. In an early season matchup, Warsaw took the first two sets against Penn before dropping the final three. In the semifinal match, things got off to a similar start. The Tigers won the first two sets with little resistance and the Kingsmen took the third in impressive fashion. Penn got out to a 7-1 lead in set four and seemed to have all momentum on its side before a lightning quick turnaround tied the game at 13 and gave the team its first lead at 14-13, which put Warsaw in front for good.
“That was a huge statement for us. We’ve worked on the mental aspect of the game all season long with The Mental Edge and these girls have learned to trust the process to get the results,” Hepler said. “All of that is what came together for us in that fourth set.”
Weeks reached the milestone of 1,000 kills in her career in the second set of the semifinal and finished with 44 on the day.
Also putting in a huge effort throughout both games was junior middle blocker Leah Henderson, who had a massive presence at the net, putting up ten blocks over the course of two games to go with her 28 kills.
“The focus with Leah has been staying aggressive and trusting herself. She has put in a lot of effort and hard work and to see it paying off is amazing,” Hepler said.
The Tigers have won their last six games while dropping just two sets.
“Playing with this team is so easy. We’re a cohesive unit with our energy and enthusiasm on the court,” Weeks said. “We love to show what we have and this team is really special.”
“Special is definitely the right word,” Hales continued. “When you look at last year’s team and this year’s, the biggest difference is how much we’ve come together. It’s why I took so much offense to people writing us off early because that part of the game is so underrated, especially in high school sports.”
Warsaw will have a week to prepare for their regional semifinal game against La Porte at La Porte High School Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. The victor of Crown Point and Lake Central will await the winner on the other side of the bracket. La Porte defeated Warsaw 2-0 at a tournament earlier this season.
“This team is so selfless, celebrating each other’s accomplishments more than their own,” Hepler said. “The main thing is to keep our players fresh and focused. This is going to be a new experience for us but we’ve got to stay the course.”
“You go from playing two or three games a week to not playing at all in the playoffs, which can be the hardest thing to deal with,” Hales said. “We’ll be watching film and getting ready to try and keep this going.”
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