NorthWood Spikers Secure NLC Title
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - You would think Peg Bough would be happier.
She just watched her No. 8 (3A) NorthWood volleyball team get past Wawasee 15-7, 7-15, 15-5 Thursday. The win gave the Panthers a perfect 6-0 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference plus the school's first NLC volleyball title. And NorthWood continued its record-setting season by upping its mark to 25-3.
But Bough was probably thinking about the big picture, and that means the postseason, which opens up in six days.
Bough was thinking how the Panthers were outscored 22-12 by the Warriors (17-14, 2-4 NLC) after opening up an 11-0 lead in the first game. Bough was also thinking about how the Panthers' play had become lackluster during that stretch and allowed the underdog Warriors to gain some confidence and play with her talented Panther squad.
"I am not very happy with what happened," Bough said. "For us to be a championship team and come back for next week, we can't do what we did tonight. It scares me that some day, we will not be able to come back. That has to change that we not get ourselves down that long."
After NorthWood opened up that impressive 11-0 lead in the first game, it looked as though NorthWood wouldn't even allow Wawasee to serve again, let alone score. But led by the hitting and blocking of Lydia Carpenter and Kara Mathew, the Warriors began to battle back and cut the lead to 11-7.
Although the Panthers scored the final five points of the game to win 15-7, the Warriors used their new-found confidence in the second game and won by pulling away from a 9-7 game for the 15-7 win.
"Wawasee really fought back in the second game," Bough said. "We were still confident we could win, but in the game we didn't play with a lot of confidence. We started well, and then I don't know what happened. A lot of things didn't go well, and we didn't respond the right way."
NorthWood showed what kind of team it was and regrouped for game three. The Panthers opened up a 3-0 lead and never really looked back as the big hitters for NorthWood took over the match, and the Panthers won 15-5.
"The girls didn't really ever quit, they stayed on top of it," Wawasee coach Jason Fleming said. "It is just unfortunate that they ended up running on us a couple of times that we just couldn't put a ball down.
"We blocked well, and we attacked well," he said. "This game, unfortunately, has a winner and loser, and one team will ended up with more points."
It was the slow start that kept the Warriors from putting even more pressure on the Panthers.
"They came out a little cold and almost on their heels and not ready to play defense," Fleming said. "We made a few adjustments and came out in that second game with a little more intensity ready to play. Unfortunately, I would like to that at the beginning.
"I am pleased," he said. "They did what they were told. We just gave up a little bit of size on the outsides. I was happy we played with them. We didn't score a lot of points, but every point that was played, we challenged."
Despite not playing up to par, NorthWood did take of business with the win, and that was clinching the NLC title, snapping Warsaw's seven-year stranglehold on the title.
"It is sweet to win the NLC," Bough said. "It is a first, one of many this season for us. Coaches dream about having a team like this because they don't come that often. I have been coaching a long time, and I don't know in my lifetime, we have won a conference anywhere I have been. I am for the girls, and the part I got to play in it."
The conference title was more than likely wrapped up last week when the Panthers got past Warsaw, but finishing with the unblemished 6-0 mark just makes it that much sweeter for the "Red Slam."
"I think the conference was probably won before tonight because we played some good teams to get here," Bough said.
Carpenter was the biggest thorn in NorthWood's side for Wawasee with 16 blocks on the night.
"They blocked well, and we didn't make any adjustments against their block," Bough said. "They were snapping right at them instead of going around. They didn't have the confidence to do that."
NorthWood is 25-3 overall and 6-0 in the NLC, while Wawasee falls to 17-14 and 2-4. [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - You would think Peg Bough would be happier.
She just watched her No. 8 (3A) NorthWood volleyball team get past Wawasee 15-7, 7-15, 15-5 Thursday. The win gave the Panthers a perfect 6-0 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference plus the school's first NLC volleyball title. And NorthWood continued its record-setting season by upping its mark to 25-3.
But Bough was probably thinking about the big picture, and that means the postseason, which opens up in six days.
Bough was thinking how the Panthers were outscored 22-12 by the Warriors (17-14, 2-4 NLC) after opening up an 11-0 lead in the first game. Bough was also thinking about how the Panthers' play had become lackluster during that stretch and allowed the underdog Warriors to gain some confidence and play with her talented Panther squad.
"I am not very happy with what happened," Bough said. "For us to be a championship team and come back for next week, we can't do what we did tonight. It scares me that some day, we will not be able to come back. That has to change that we not get ourselves down that long."
After NorthWood opened up that impressive 11-0 lead in the first game, it looked as though NorthWood wouldn't even allow Wawasee to serve again, let alone score. But led by the hitting and blocking of Lydia Carpenter and Kara Mathew, the Warriors began to battle back and cut the lead to 11-7.
Although the Panthers scored the final five points of the game to win 15-7, the Warriors used their new-found confidence in the second game and won by pulling away from a 9-7 game for the 15-7 win.
"Wawasee really fought back in the second game," Bough said. "We were still confident we could win, but in the game we didn't play with a lot of confidence. We started well, and then I don't know what happened. A lot of things didn't go well, and we didn't respond the right way."
NorthWood showed what kind of team it was and regrouped for game three. The Panthers opened up a 3-0 lead and never really looked back as the big hitters for NorthWood took over the match, and the Panthers won 15-5.
"The girls didn't really ever quit, they stayed on top of it," Wawasee coach Jason Fleming said. "It is just unfortunate that they ended up running on us a couple of times that we just couldn't put a ball down.
"We blocked well, and we attacked well," he said. "This game, unfortunately, has a winner and loser, and one team will ended up with more points."
It was the slow start that kept the Warriors from putting even more pressure on the Panthers.
"They came out a little cold and almost on their heels and not ready to play defense," Fleming said. "We made a few adjustments and came out in that second game with a little more intensity ready to play. Unfortunately, I would like to that at the beginning.
"I am pleased," he said. "They did what they were told. We just gave up a little bit of size on the outsides. I was happy we played with them. We didn't score a lot of points, but every point that was played, we challenged."
Despite not playing up to par, NorthWood did take of business with the win, and that was clinching the NLC title, snapping Warsaw's seven-year stranglehold on the title.
"It is sweet to win the NLC," Bough said. "It is a first, one of many this season for us. Coaches dream about having a team like this because they don't come that often. I have been coaching a long time, and I don't know in my lifetime, we have won a conference anywhere I have been. I am for the girls, and the part I got to play in it."
The conference title was more than likely wrapped up last week when the Panthers got past Warsaw, but finishing with the unblemished 6-0 mark just makes it that much sweeter for the "Red Slam."
"I think the conference was probably won before tonight because we played some good teams to get here," Bough said.
Carpenter was the biggest thorn in NorthWood's side for Wawasee with 16 blocks on the night.
"They blocked well, and we didn't make any adjustments against their block," Bough said. "They were snapping right at them instead of going around. They didn't have the confidence to do that."
NorthWood is 25-3 overall and 6-0 in the NLC, while Wawasee falls to 17-14 and 2-4. [[In-content Ad]]