Bruins Batter Tigers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
MUNCIE - Unfortunately for Warsaw, No. 4 Fort Wayne Northrop was not looking ahead.
The only unranked team in the Delta Semistate, the Tigers were hoping the Bruins had their sights set on a championship game matchup with either No. 2 Muncie Central or No. 7 Delta.
But it was no such luck. Fort Wayne Northrop entered the semistate semifinals with its focus squarely on the task at hand and duplicated its regular season domination of Warsaw with a 15-6, 15-8 win Saturday.
"I was hoping they were taking us a little more lightly than they did," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said. "I can't say we played our best volleyball because we didn't. They were ready for us. They came out on fire."
Northrop went onto win the semistate with a win over Delta in the championship match.
Warsaw actually took a quick 2-0 lead against Northrop when Melissa Bolles unleashed two aces on the Bruins to open the match. But the Bruins came right back with two aces of their own from Carly Messman to tie the score at 2.
Northrop kept rolling and eventually built up a 10-2 advantage on the Tigers. Warsaw cut the margin to 11-6 on three straight points later in the match, but Northrop closed it out on an ace from Sarah Tinkle to win the first game.
In game two, Northrop opened up a 5-2 lead before Warsaw came back and got to within 1, 5-4. The Bruins went on another run and made it 12-4 on three straight kills by Stephanie Bishop.
Warsaw cut the margin to 14-7 on a set kill from Bolles, but it was too little, too late as Northrop went on to the win.
"We were going for broke," Byron said. "We definitely didn't have any pressure on us. They listened to me in the huddle, and when I gave them instructions, they went back out on the floor and tried them. Northrop just always seemed to have an answer."
In their regular season matchup, Bishop and Stacy Zimmerman, both 6-feet tall, dominated the Tiger defense. It was more of the same in the semistate as Bishop went for 9 kills and Zimmerman had seven to lead the Bruins.
"Our girls played with a lot of heart at times, and that is what it takes," Byron said. "But Northrop is a very, very good volleyball team, and they are tall, and their block was huge. They didn't make any mistakes."
About the only chink in the Northrop armor was nine service errors. But the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the opportunities.
"They did miss a lot of serves, and those were the opportunities we have to use and jump on," Byron said. "They gave us the opportunities, but we just couldn't capitalize on them."
Sarah Calhoun led Warsaw with six kills, while Estep added five.
Despite the loss, Byron viewed the season as a big success, especially considering that six months ago, the Warsaw players didn't even know who their new coach would be. And add to the fact that Byron was in her first head coaching position after just finishing her playing career, there were a lot of question marks answered in a big way with the Tigers advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in the state tournament.
"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," Byron said. "They came in not even knowing who the coach was going to be at the beginning of the summer. I didn't even know if I was going to be the coach. We were in limbo.
"They have done a 180 (degrees)," she said. "I knew we had the talent, it was just whether we could mix it all together and come up with a good rotation where we could score a lot of points and to win close matches."
This season had some rocky times for Warsaw, especially at midseason, but the Tigers pulled things together when they had to.
"We had it at the beginning of the season, and then lost our chemistry there in the middle part and found it again right in the nick of time right before sectional," Byron said. "We used it to our advantage. I had big goals, but I didn't really think they would take us to the semistate in my first year. It will be a hard act to follow next year. I just told the people who are coming back next year to remember what it feels like to be at this level. They know it is going to take a lot of work (to get back) because we are losing six great seniors. They led us the entire time."
Warsaw will lose the services of seniors Calhoun, Estep, Bolles, Sheila Whitaker, Jahna Swanson and Ann Fribley. [[In-content Ad]]
MUNCIE - Unfortunately for Warsaw, No. 4 Fort Wayne Northrop was not looking ahead.
The only unranked team in the Delta Semistate, the Tigers were hoping the Bruins had their sights set on a championship game matchup with either No. 2 Muncie Central or No. 7 Delta.
But it was no such luck. Fort Wayne Northrop entered the semistate semifinals with its focus squarely on the task at hand and duplicated its regular season domination of Warsaw with a 15-6, 15-8 win Saturday.
"I was hoping they were taking us a little more lightly than they did," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said. "I can't say we played our best volleyball because we didn't. They were ready for us. They came out on fire."
Northrop went onto win the semistate with a win over Delta in the championship match.
Warsaw actually took a quick 2-0 lead against Northrop when Melissa Bolles unleashed two aces on the Bruins to open the match. But the Bruins came right back with two aces of their own from Carly Messman to tie the score at 2.
Northrop kept rolling and eventually built up a 10-2 advantage on the Tigers. Warsaw cut the margin to 11-6 on three straight points later in the match, but Northrop closed it out on an ace from Sarah Tinkle to win the first game.
In game two, Northrop opened up a 5-2 lead before Warsaw came back and got to within 1, 5-4. The Bruins went on another run and made it 12-4 on three straight kills by Stephanie Bishop.
Warsaw cut the margin to 14-7 on a set kill from Bolles, but it was too little, too late as Northrop went on to the win.
"We were going for broke," Byron said. "We definitely didn't have any pressure on us. They listened to me in the huddle, and when I gave them instructions, they went back out on the floor and tried them. Northrop just always seemed to have an answer."
In their regular season matchup, Bishop and Stacy Zimmerman, both 6-feet tall, dominated the Tiger defense. It was more of the same in the semistate as Bishop went for 9 kills and Zimmerman had seven to lead the Bruins.
"Our girls played with a lot of heart at times, and that is what it takes," Byron said. "But Northrop is a very, very good volleyball team, and they are tall, and their block was huge. They didn't make any mistakes."
About the only chink in the Northrop armor was nine service errors. But the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the opportunities.
"They did miss a lot of serves, and those were the opportunities we have to use and jump on," Byron said. "They gave us the opportunities, but we just couldn't capitalize on them."
Sarah Calhoun led Warsaw with six kills, while Estep added five.
Despite the loss, Byron viewed the season as a big success, especially considering that six months ago, the Warsaw players didn't even know who their new coach would be. And add to the fact that Byron was in her first head coaching position after just finishing her playing career, there were a lot of question marks answered in a big way with the Tigers advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in the state tournament.
"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," Byron said. "They came in not even knowing who the coach was going to be at the beginning of the summer. I didn't even know if I was going to be the coach. We were in limbo.
"They have done a 180 (degrees)," she said. "I knew we had the talent, it was just whether we could mix it all together and come up with a good rotation where we could score a lot of points and to win close matches."
This season had some rocky times for Warsaw, especially at midseason, but the Tigers pulled things together when they had to.
"We had it at the beginning of the season, and then lost our chemistry there in the middle part and found it again right in the nick of time right before sectional," Byron said. "We used it to our advantage. I had big goals, but I didn't really think they would take us to the semistate in my first year. It will be a hard act to follow next year. I just told the people who are coming back next year to remember what it feels like to be at this level. They know it is going to take a lot of work (to get back) because we are losing six great seniors. They led us the entire time."
Warsaw will lose the services of seniors Calhoun, Estep, Bolles, Sheila Whitaker, Jahna Swanson and Ann Fribley. [[In-content Ad]]