NorthWood Whips Mishawaka Marian
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - The two guys sitting in the student section, they weren't going to let NorthWood lose this one.
After the Panthers won the West Noble Sectional last week, NorthWood coach Peg Bough did nothing to hide her disappointment in the fan support. The fans, including these two NorthWood students, answered Bough's call for help at Saturday's Wawasee Regional.
The duo wore matching outfits, helmets cut out of a volleyball and red capes. They and the other NorthWood fans roared from start to finish as the No. 9 Panthers wrapped up the regional championship with a 15-12, 15-4 win over No. 10 Mishawaka Marian.
"The crowd was great," Bough said. "Last week we didn't have a very good crowd. We had people meet us as we got off the bus. The crowd was our seventh person."
The Panthers needed that seventh person, because their assigned task was to beat a 26-9 Marian team ranked one rung below them for the third time this season.
The Panthers did so and really had only one gutwrenching moment. After leading 5-1 the first game, they fell behind 12-8.
They got a side out and let their strength take over, their hitters.
Marla Yoder had a kill, and Jamie Gill added two as the Panthers trimmed the lead to 12-11. After Marian's Kristen Budd served the ball into the net, Natalie Will came up with a key block that tied the game at 12-12.
Will's block kicked off four straight NorthWood points that gave the Panthers the come-from-behind win.
"We were up 12-8 and started serving easy," Marian coach Dan Anderson said. "They came back, got the momentum and just took it. We didn't want to put the ball away. We let up. We have to put it away at 12 with a big lead.
"I think our girls were intimidated by one block when they shouldn't have been. They were afraid to win. They didn't want to make the mistakes, so they played pensively. Instead of wanting to win, they played not to lose."
Marian had already lost twice to NorthWood this season. Now the Knights blew a 12-8 lead. They were a shellshocked school of tuna chased by sharks. With the teams tied 4-4 in the second game, two unforced errors by Marian helped spark an 11-0 run as NorthWood cruised to the win in the second game.
"At the beginning of the second game, I have to give a lot of credit to Angela Hattery," Bough said. "She came through there with a couple of kills and a block. As she came through, then we started digging the ball really well. Amy Zercher started digging the ball from behind."
The Panthers did a good job of listening to Bough and making adjustments for the second game. Since her team is loaded with talented hitters, she's preached intimidation at the net all season.
NorthWood intimidated in game two by rifling countless shots that Marian would either watch or hit out of bounds.
"We kept saying take it away from them," she said. "That's what we did the second game. That No. 8 (Elizabeth Albert) for Marian is quite a hitter. I said after the first game, when she's in the back row, let's take advantage of that. Our girls did that.
"Again, the things we could do at the net made it so they couldn't do anything the second game. I think a lot of it is intimidation at the net."
Asked about facing NorthWood for the third time and watching a 12-8 lead disappear, Anderson said: "Mental edge. Mental edge. We knew NorthWood was going to block us. They were bigger. They were strong at the net. We knew we had to go after them. Instead, we let up."
Gill, who led NorthWood with 12 kills, said the Panthers were confident they would beat Marian before they even stepped off the bus.
"We knew how they played before, and we knew what they would do to us," she said. "They tried to tip against us and do some other stuff to throw us off. I think we overcame that very well."
NorthWood will face Delta, the No. 1 3A team, in Saturday's Peru Semistate.
"(NorthWood's) tough," Anderson said. "If Delta beats them, Delta will win state. If they beat Delta, they will win state."
Bough just wanted to enjoy her team's celebration, enjoy Saturday night.
"I don't know what to expect next week," she said. "This is such a new thing for us. It's the first regional we've won.
"Right now, I love the class system. Our girls were able to win a regional. I'm not sure the last time a NorthWood team won 30 matches."
NORTHWOOD DEF. MISHAWAKA MARIAN 15-12, 15-4
NorthWood stats
Serving: Jamie Gill 10 for 10, Amy Zercher 9 for 9, Angela Hattery 8 for 8
Assists: Marla Yoder 17, Hattery 10
Kills: Gill 12, Hattery 8, Zercher 5, Colleen Miller 3
Solo blocks: Zercher 3, Will 3
Digs: Will 7, Hattery 5, Zercher 4 [[In-content Ad]]
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SYRACUSE - The two guys sitting in the student section, they weren't going to let NorthWood lose this one.
After the Panthers won the West Noble Sectional last week, NorthWood coach Peg Bough did nothing to hide her disappointment in the fan support. The fans, including these two NorthWood students, answered Bough's call for help at Saturday's Wawasee Regional.
The duo wore matching outfits, helmets cut out of a volleyball and red capes. They and the other NorthWood fans roared from start to finish as the No. 9 Panthers wrapped up the regional championship with a 15-12, 15-4 win over No. 10 Mishawaka Marian.
"The crowd was great," Bough said. "Last week we didn't have a very good crowd. We had people meet us as we got off the bus. The crowd was our seventh person."
The Panthers needed that seventh person, because their assigned task was to beat a 26-9 Marian team ranked one rung below them for the third time this season.
The Panthers did so and really had only one gutwrenching moment. After leading 5-1 the first game, they fell behind 12-8.
They got a side out and let their strength take over, their hitters.
Marla Yoder had a kill, and Jamie Gill added two as the Panthers trimmed the lead to 12-11. After Marian's Kristen Budd served the ball into the net, Natalie Will came up with a key block that tied the game at 12-12.
Will's block kicked off four straight NorthWood points that gave the Panthers the come-from-behind win.
"We were up 12-8 and started serving easy," Marian coach Dan Anderson said. "They came back, got the momentum and just took it. We didn't want to put the ball away. We let up. We have to put it away at 12 with a big lead.
"I think our girls were intimidated by one block when they shouldn't have been. They were afraid to win. They didn't want to make the mistakes, so they played pensively. Instead of wanting to win, they played not to lose."
Marian had already lost twice to NorthWood this season. Now the Knights blew a 12-8 lead. They were a shellshocked school of tuna chased by sharks. With the teams tied 4-4 in the second game, two unforced errors by Marian helped spark an 11-0 run as NorthWood cruised to the win in the second game.
"At the beginning of the second game, I have to give a lot of credit to Angela Hattery," Bough said. "She came through there with a couple of kills and a block. As she came through, then we started digging the ball really well. Amy Zercher started digging the ball from behind."
The Panthers did a good job of listening to Bough and making adjustments for the second game. Since her team is loaded with talented hitters, she's preached intimidation at the net all season.
NorthWood intimidated in game two by rifling countless shots that Marian would either watch or hit out of bounds.
"We kept saying take it away from them," she said. "That's what we did the second game. That No. 8 (Elizabeth Albert) for Marian is quite a hitter. I said after the first game, when she's in the back row, let's take advantage of that. Our girls did that.
"Again, the things we could do at the net made it so they couldn't do anything the second game. I think a lot of it is intimidation at the net."
Asked about facing NorthWood for the third time and watching a 12-8 lead disappear, Anderson said: "Mental edge. Mental edge. We knew NorthWood was going to block us. They were bigger. They were strong at the net. We knew we had to go after them. Instead, we let up."
Gill, who led NorthWood with 12 kills, said the Panthers were confident they would beat Marian before they even stepped off the bus.
"We knew how they played before, and we knew what they would do to us," she said. "They tried to tip against us and do some other stuff to throw us off. I think we overcame that very well."
NorthWood will face Delta, the No. 1 3A team, in Saturday's Peru Semistate.
"(NorthWood's) tough," Anderson said. "If Delta beats them, Delta will win state. If they beat Delta, they will win state."
Bough just wanted to enjoy her team's celebration, enjoy Saturday night.
"I don't know what to expect next week," she said. "This is such a new thing for us. It's the first regional we've won.
"Right now, I love the class system. Our girls were able to win a regional. I'm not sure the last time a NorthWood team won 30 matches."
NORTHWOOD DEF. MISHAWAKA MARIAN 15-12, 15-4
NorthWood stats
Serving: Jamie Gill 10 for 10, Amy Zercher 9 for 9, Angela Hattery 8 for 8
Assists: Marla Yoder 17, Hattery 10
Kills: Gill 12, Hattery 8, Zercher 5, Colleen Miller 3
Solo blocks: Zercher 3, Will 3
Digs: Will 7, Hattery 5, Zercher 4 [[In-content Ad]]