Lady Tigers Snap Memorial's Streak
Warsaw hands rival first NLC volleyball loss in 11 years
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
And just like in 2001, that loss was handed to them by the Warsaw Lady Tigers.
Since losing their first-ever match as an NLC team in 2001, the Elkhart Memorial Lady Chargers reeled off 76-straight conference wins until the Lady Tigers defeated them in five sets (25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12) Thursday in Elkhart.
"They are the gold standard in our conference," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said. "They are the measuring stick. It's just awesome to win."
And if Memorial was 12 inches on the measuring stick, Warsaw always seemed to be at about 11 inches.
Time-and-time again, the Lady Tigers appeared to be on the verge of knocking off the Lady Chargers, but came up short.
It was just three years ago that Warsaw took a 2-0 match lead over Memorial at the Goshen Sectional, before falling in five.
Again last year, Warsaw pushed the dominant Chargers to five games at the Tiger Den before succumbing.
But finally, Warsaw climbed the mountain and staked its claim.
"It means a lot," Warsaw senior libero Alex Sanchez said. "I played varsity as a freshman, and every year it's been our goal as a team (to beat Memorial). I just wanted so bad to beat Elkhart Memorial. Every year, we've just come up just a little bit short. I'm so overwhelmed. It's such an amazing feeling."
Long after Warsaw had gotten on the bus and left the high school, Memorial coach Jacquie Rost was still speaking with her girls.
"Embarrassed is probably the best adjective to be the team that lost the streak," she said. "I told them, 'Good, because you have to use that as motivation.’”
Embarrassed may have been the word in the locker room, but Rost was well aware that Warsaw had been nipping at her team's heels.
Warsaw was probably even favored against Memorial, which lost a number of seniors and also lost to Mishawaka Marian on Aug. 16, while Warsaw downed Marian Monday in Mishawaka.
"I knew the caliber of players they had coming back," Rost said. "I had the opportunity to see them play Monday night against Marian. So, I was very aware of how strong they were. We had a plan to try to neutralize (junior Emily Poe) and (senior Jamie Lacheta), obviously their two top attackers. Sometimes we executed that plan really well and sometimes we didn't. The thing I can say is, Warsaw was better than us tonight. I mean that completely positive to them. They were better than us tonight. When you go 15-12 in the fifth set, there isn't that much difference."
In the win, Poe led all attackers with 20 kills and Lacheta had 17, with more than a few of Lacheta's coming from the middle rather than the outside.
"(Senior) Chloe (Hubner) did a great job, especially at key moments, of running that," Howard said of his team’s attack up the middle. "They were sending two right away, especially on the serve-receive, to the outside. We said, 'Your backside hitters are open. They're open in transition and they're open in serve-receive.' She started to go to them."
Hubner finished the match with 41 assists, while Lacheta filled out the stat sheet with 22 digs, three blocks and two aces to go with her kills.
But Howard was going deeper than stats in the postgame, pointing out senior Sam Jensen, who served up back-to-back aces in the fifth game, giving Warsaw an 8-2 lead.
"Before Game 4, Sam Jensen took over our huddle," he said. "Sam Jensen may be our leader. Chloe's our setter and runs our offense, but Sam Jensen may be our leader. People might think it's Jamie or Chloe, but Sam Jensen is the heart of this team right now."
And someone needed to step up going into fourth set.
After Warsaw breezed in the opening set, winning 25-22 and not trailing at all, Memorial responded by leading the second set wire-to-wire until claiming a 25-19 win.
The third set was by far the most competitive, as the score was tied 12 times and the lead was exchanged on six separate occasions, until Memorial won 25-21.
Outside of the third set, there was only one tied score and one lead change.
The third-set win also set Memorial up to keep its winning streak in tact.
Instead of winning that fourth set, Memorial came out flat, falling behind 12-2 before going on to lose 25-15.
"I think they expected to win that, but you have to have that expectation with the action behind it," Rost said about her team.
With the momentum all on Warsaw's side, the Lady Tigers opened the fifth set with a 5-0 lead.
The quick start was too much for Memorial to overcome, and in the end the Lady Tigers were celebrating the historic win.
"It was definitely a roller coaster," Sanchez said. "I was proud that we were able to keep our heads in it and come away with this victory."
The match was, perhaps, Warsaw's best shot at knocking off Memorial, as it returned much more experience and talent than its counterpart.
"I think there was a huge amount of pressure," Howard said. "I felt like we'd be a little better physically, especially with Jamie and Emily on the outside. But there's a reason Jacquie has won 76-straight conference matches."
And while members of the Warsaw team were taking photos afterward, Memorial still has a shot to win its 11th-straight NLC crown. It's just waiting for Warsaw to slip up.
"The NLC is good this year," Howard said. "NorthWood is strong, Northridge is very strong, Plymouth has a good team. So, all this does is maybe put a bigger target on our back. You already have a little bit of a target once you get past Memorial, and now everyone knows if they beat us, they can get a piece of the conference. We need to hold serve the rest of the conference. We have to beat NorthWood, Northridge, Plymouth, Wawasee, Goshen and the rest of them. Without that, this win loses meaning. It means a lot right now, but we want to win the conference."
The only thing is, Memorial doesn't seem too eager to give up the title quite yet.
"Continuing that streak has been one incredible goal for every team the last 10 years," Rost said. "That's been a goal, but it's not our only goal. We can't lose sight of what else we can do."
Warsaw returns to action Tuesday at home against Whitko.
WARSAW DEF. ELKHART MEMORIAL 25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12
Kills — Emily Poe (W) 20, Jamie Lacheta (W) 17, Paige Newvine (M) 10, Lexa Magnuson (M) 9, Christy Hill (W) 9, Tori Mills (M) 8, Katie Voelz (W) 7; Blocks — Lacheta (W) 3, Voelz (W) 3, Magnuson (M) 2.5, Poe (W) 2, Hill (M) 1.5; Digs — Alex Sanchez (W) 27, Lacheta (W) 22, Newvine (M) 18, Mills (M) 13, Stephanie Bettis (M) 11, Maddy Robison (M) 10; Assists — Chloe Hubner (W) 41, Newvine (M) 22, Mills (M) 17; Aces — Sam Jensen (W) 4, Robison (M) 3, Claire Welter (M) 3, Magnuson (M) 3, Lacheta (W) 2, Mills (M) 2
Records: Warsaw 5-1 (1-0 NLC), Memorial 1-2 (0-1 NLC)
JV — Warsaw def. Memorial 16-25, 25-20, 15-5
9th — Warsaw def. SB Riley 25-8, 25-11; Memorial def. Warsaw 25-14, 25-14
Warsaw 9th Stats: Aces — Kendra Paton 12, Taylor Eaton 4; Kills — Mercedes Sanchez 3; Blocks — Taylor Fouts 2; Digs — Blake McGarvey 13, Sydney Peugh 7; Assists — Burns 10; Record: 1-2 (0-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
And just like in 2001, that loss was handed to them by the Warsaw Lady Tigers.
Since losing their first-ever match as an NLC team in 2001, the Elkhart Memorial Lady Chargers reeled off 76-straight conference wins until the Lady Tigers defeated them in five sets (25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12) Thursday in Elkhart.
"They are the gold standard in our conference," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said. "They are the measuring stick. It's just awesome to win."
And if Memorial was 12 inches on the measuring stick, Warsaw always seemed to be at about 11 inches.
Time-and-time again, the Lady Tigers appeared to be on the verge of knocking off the Lady Chargers, but came up short.
It was just three years ago that Warsaw took a 2-0 match lead over Memorial at the Goshen Sectional, before falling in five.
Again last year, Warsaw pushed the dominant Chargers to five games at the Tiger Den before succumbing.
But finally, Warsaw climbed the mountain and staked its claim.
"It means a lot," Warsaw senior libero Alex Sanchez said. "I played varsity as a freshman, and every year it's been our goal as a team (to beat Memorial). I just wanted so bad to beat Elkhart Memorial. Every year, we've just come up just a little bit short. I'm so overwhelmed. It's such an amazing feeling."
Long after Warsaw had gotten on the bus and left the high school, Memorial coach Jacquie Rost was still speaking with her girls.
"Embarrassed is probably the best adjective to be the team that lost the streak," she said. "I told them, 'Good, because you have to use that as motivation.’”
Embarrassed may have been the word in the locker room, but Rost was well aware that Warsaw had been nipping at her team's heels.
Warsaw was probably even favored against Memorial, which lost a number of seniors and also lost to Mishawaka Marian on Aug. 16, while Warsaw downed Marian Monday in Mishawaka.
"I knew the caliber of players they had coming back," Rost said. "I had the opportunity to see them play Monday night against Marian. So, I was very aware of how strong they were. We had a plan to try to neutralize (junior Emily Poe) and (senior Jamie Lacheta), obviously their two top attackers. Sometimes we executed that plan really well and sometimes we didn't. The thing I can say is, Warsaw was better than us tonight. I mean that completely positive to them. They were better than us tonight. When you go 15-12 in the fifth set, there isn't that much difference."
In the win, Poe led all attackers with 20 kills and Lacheta had 17, with more than a few of Lacheta's coming from the middle rather than the outside.
"(Senior) Chloe (Hubner) did a great job, especially at key moments, of running that," Howard said of his team’s attack up the middle. "They were sending two right away, especially on the serve-receive, to the outside. We said, 'Your backside hitters are open. They're open in transition and they're open in serve-receive.' She started to go to them."
Hubner finished the match with 41 assists, while Lacheta filled out the stat sheet with 22 digs, three blocks and two aces to go with her kills.
But Howard was going deeper than stats in the postgame, pointing out senior Sam Jensen, who served up back-to-back aces in the fifth game, giving Warsaw an 8-2 lead.
"Before Game 4, Sam Jensen took over our huddle," he said. "Sam Jensen may be our leader. Chloe's our setter and runs our offense, but Sam Jensen may be our leader. People might think it's Jamie or Chloe, but Sam Jensen is the heart of this team right now."
And someone needed to step up going into fourth set.
After Warsaw breezed in the opening set, winning 25-22 and not trailing at all, Memorial responded by leading the second set wire-to-wire until claiming a 25-19 win.
The third set was by far the most competitive, as the score was tied 12 times and the lead was exchanged on six separate occasions, until Memorial won 25-21.
Outside of the third set, there was only one tied score and one lead change.
The third-set win also set Memorial up to keep its winning streak in tact.
Instead of winning that fourth set, Memorial came out flat, falling behind 12-2 before going on to lose 25-15.
"I think they expected to win that, but you have to have that expectation with the action behind it," Rost said about her team.
With the momentum all on Warsaw's side, the Lady Tigers opened the fifth set with a 5-0 lead.
The quick start was too much for Memorial to overcome, and in the end the Lady Tigers were celebrating the historic win.
"It was definitely a roller coaster," Sanchez said. "I was proud that we were able to keep our heads in it and come away with this victory."
The match was, perhaps, Warsaw's best shot at knocking off Memorial, as it returned much more experience and talent than its counterpart.
"I think there was a huge amount of pressure," Howard said. "I felt like we'd be a little better physically, especially with Jamie and Emily on the outside. But there's a reason Jacquie has won 76-straight conference matches."
And while members of the Warsaw team were taking photos afterward, Memorial still has a shot to win its 11th-straight NLC crown. It's just waiting for Warsaw to slip up.
"The NLC is good this year," Howard said. "NorthWood is strong, Northridge is very strong, Plymouth has a good team. So, all this does is maybe put a bigger target on our back. You already have a little bit of a target once you get past Memorial, and now everyone knows if they beat us, they can get a piece of the conference. We need to hold serve the rest of the conference. We have to beat NorthWood, Northridge, Plymouth, Wawasee, Goshen and the rest of them. Without that, this win loses meaning. It means a lot right now, but we want to win the conference."
The only thing is, Memorial doesn't seem too eager to give up the title quite yet.
"Continuing that streak has been one incredible goal for every team the last 10 years," Rost said. "That's been a goal, but it's not our only goal. We can't lose sight of what else we can do."
Warsaw returns to action Tuesday at home against Whitko.
WARSAW DEF. ELKHART MEMORIAL 25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12
Kills — Emily Poe (W) 20, Jamie Lacheta (W) 17, Paige Newvine (M) 10, Lexa Magnuson (M) 9, Christy Hill (W) 9, Tori Mills (M) 8, Katie Voelz (W) 7; Blocks — Lacheta (W) 3, Voelz (W) 3, Magnuson (M) 2.5, Poe (W) 2, Hill (M) 1.5; Digs — Alex Sanchez (W) 27, Lacheta (W) 22, Newvine (M) 18, Mills (M) 13, Stephanie Bettis (M) 11, Maddy Robison (M) 10; Assists — Chloe Hubner (W) 41, Newvine (M) 22, Mills (M) 17; Aces — Sam Jensen (W) 4, Robison (M) 3, Claire Welter (M) 3, Magnuson (M) 3, Lacheta (W) 2, Mills (M) 2
Records: Warsaw 5-1 (1-0 NLC), Memorial 1-2 (0-1 NLC)
JV — Warsaw def. Memorial 16-25, 25-20, 15-5
9th — Warsaw def. SB Riley 25-8, 25-11; Memorial def. Warsaw 25-14, 25-14
Warsaw 9th Stats: Aces — Kendra Paton 12, Taylor Eaton 4; Kills — Mercedes Sanchez 3; Blocks — Taylor Fouts 2; Digs — Blake McGarvey 13, Sydney Peugh 7; Assists — Burns 10; Record: 1-2 (0-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
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