Tiger Spikers Fall To NorthWood
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
At the Tiger Den Thursday night, the Panthers used 25 kills from senior Alli Heeter to leave with a four-game Northern Lakes Conference volleyball win, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20.[[In-content Ad]]"We want to do some things like NorthWood does with Alli," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said. "It takes time to get those things going. We're trying to build. We're trying to grow, to build, to learn and to win all at the same time. You don't always get all those things accomplished."
The win left NorthWood with a 24-3 record, 5-1 in the NLC, that one conference loss coming on a controversial call in a five-game loss to fourth-ranked Elkhart Memorial.
Facing the young Tigers, who stand at 17-8 (3-3 NLC), NorthWood coach Megan Evers knew Warsaw was low on experience, but high on talent.
"We knew they were young and tall, and may get a lot of blocks - which they did," Evers said of the Tigers' defense ,led by junior Sarah Shilling's six blocks. "They'll be tough next year. They're good this year, but they'll be tough next year."
Warsaw did have three girls record at least nine kills, as junior Corinne Coon led the way with 12, followed by sophomore Natalie Decker and Shilling's nine.
Despite all the blocks and tipped balls by Warsaw, keeping the clamps on Heeter proved to be a difficult task.
"Our best defense was going to be to serve the ball tough," Howard said. "At least we'd know where it was going to go, and maybe we could set our defense a little better. She's a wonderful player. We just had our hands full with her tonight."
When the Tigers did keep Heeter in check, giving up just two kills in the second and fourth games, they had another attacker to worry about in senior Courtney Simpson.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Howard said. "They've got a great outside hitter in Alli Heeter and they compliment her with another strong middle player (Courtney Simpson). They can just move the ball around and counter your defense."
Simpson finished the match with 17 kills of her own, many coming off passes from sophomore Kaci Heeter, who recorded 49 assists.
"One of our standouts was Courtney Simpson," Evers said. "She stepped up big. Especially in the first two games, when we were just struggling to get started."
Through the first two games, the two NLC teams went tit-for-tat.
In Game 1, the visitors held Warsaw off for 25-21 win, after leading just 22-21. The same couldn't be said in the second game, as the Panthers let an 18-15 lead slip away, resulting in a 26-24 Tigers victory.
Falling behind 9-1 in the third game, the Tigers did fight back to get within 14-11, but from there, NorthWood put things away with an 11-4 run, taking a commanding 2-1 lead in the match.
"We hung with them, but always seemed to give up a run and let them pull ahead," Howard said. "Then we had to fight even harder, and couldn't pull through."
That story was retold in the fourth game, as Warsaw fought back from an early deficit to pull ahead 11-10 before NorthWood responded with two-straight points. Trailing 12-11, Warsaw took three of the next four points for another lead at 14-13, but five-straight Panther points helped give NorthWood enough momentum for a decisive 25-20 victory.
"They really took us out of what we wanted to do all night," Howard said.
The Tigers are at Huntington North Tuesday, where the junior varsity will begin play at 6 p.m.
NORTHWOOD DEF. WARSAW 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20
Kills - Alli Heeter (N) 25, Courtney Simpson (N) 17, Corinne Coon (W) 12, Natalie Decker (W) 9, Sarah Shilling (W) 9; Assists - Kaci Heeter (N) 49, Madison Long (W) 34; Aces - Olivia Menzie (N) 3, Lauren Sciarra (W) 3, Michelle Pifer (W) 2; Blocks - Sarah Shilling (W) 6, Coon (W) 2, Decker (W) 2, Taylor Olsen (N) 1; Digs - Amber Slone (N) 35, K. Heeter (N) 16, Kelci Freds (W) 15, Kaitlin Reichard (W) 12, Coon (W) 12
Records: NorthWood 24-3 (5-1 NLC), Warsaw 17-8 (3-3 NLC)
At the Tiger Den Thursday night, the Panthers used 25 kills from senior Alli Heeter to leave with a four-game Northern Lakes Conference volleyball win, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20.[[In-content Ad]]"We want to do some things like NorthWood does with Alli," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said. "It takes time to get those things going. We're trying to build. We're trying to grow, to build, to learn and to win all at the same time. You don't always get all those things accomplished."
The win left NorthWood with a 24-3 record, 5-1 in the NLC, that one conference loss coming on a controversial call in a five-game loss to fourth-ranked Elkhart Memorial.
Facing the young Tigers, who stand at 17-8 (3-3 NLC), NorthWood coach Megan Evers knew Warsaw was low on experience, but high on talent.
"We knew they were young and tall, and may get a lot of blocks - which they did," Evers said of the Tigers' defense ,led by junior Sarah Shilling's six blocks. "They'll be tough next year. They're good this year, but they'll be tough next year."
Warsaw did have three girls record at least nine kills, as junior Corinne Coon led the way with 12, followed by sophomore Natalie Decker and Shilling's nine.
Despite all the blocks and tipped balls by Warsaw, keeping the clamps on Heeter proved to be a difficult task.
"Our best defense was going to be to serve the ball tough," Howard said. "At least we'd know where it was going to go, and maybe we could set our defense a little better. She's a wonderful player. We just had our hands full with her tonight."
When the Tigers did keep Heeter in check, giving up just two kills in the second and fourth games, they had another attacker to worry about in senior Courtney Simpson.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Howard said. "They've got a great outside hitter in Alli Heeter and they compliment her with another strong middle player (Courtney Simpson). They can just move the ball around and counter your defense."
Simpson finished the match with 17 kills of her own, many coming off passes from sophomore Kaci Heeter, who recorded 49 assists.
"One of our standouts was Courtney Simpson," Evers said. "She stepped up big. Especially in the first two games, when we were just struggling to get started."
Through the first two games, the two NLC teams went tit-for-tat.
In Game 1, the visitors held Warsaw off for 25-21 win, after leading just 22-21. The same couldn't be said in the second game, as the Panthers let an 18-15 lead slip away, resulting in a 26-24 Tigers victory.
Falling behind 9-1 in the third game, the Tigers did fight back to get within 14-11, but from there, NorthWood put things away with an 11-4 run, taking a commanding 2-1 lead in the match.
"We hung with them, but always seemed to give up a run and let them pull ahead," Howard said. "Then we had to fight even harder, and couldn't pull through."
That story was retold in the fourth game, as Warsaw fought back from an early deficit to pull ahead 11-10 before NorthWood responded with two-straight points. Trailing 12-11, Warsaw took three of the next four points for another lead at 14-13, but five-straight Panther points helped give NorthWood enough momentum for a decisive 25-20 victory.
"They really took us out of what we wanted to do all night," Howard said.
The Tigers are at Huntington North Tuesday, where the junior varsity will begin play at 6 p.m.
NORTHWOOD DEF. WARSAW 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20
Kills - Alli Heeter (N) 25, Courtney Simpson (N) 17, Corinne Coon (W) 12, Natalie Decker (W) 9, Sarah Shilling (W) 9; Assists - Kaci Heeter (N) 49, Madison Long (W) 34; Aces - Olivia Menzie (N) 3, Lauren Sciarra (W) 3, Michelle Pifer (W) 2; Blocks - Sarah Shilling (W) 6, Coon (W) 2, Decker (W) 2, Taylor Olsen (N) 1; Digs - Amber Slone (N) 35, K. Heeter (N) 16, Kelci Freds (W) 15, Kaitlin Reichard (W) 12, Coon (W) 12
Records: NorthWood 24-3 (5-1 NLC), Warsaw 17-8 (3-3 NLC)
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