GOSHEN - You can take the single out of the single-class tournament, but when it comes to volleyball sectionals, you can't separate Warsaw from being champions.

The Tigers marched into the first Goshen 4A Volleyball Sectional Saturday and came out with their seventh straight sectional championship, the first in the new multi-class format implemented this year by the IHSAA, with a 15-10, 15-13 win over Elkhart Central.

Warsaw had won its previous six sectional titles at Columbia City.

Not only is this the first for Warsaw under the new format, but it might be the unlikeliest title the Tigers have had among the previous six. The Tigers (19-14) struggled this year with their youth and came into the championship as the underdogs against the Blue Blazers (23-12).

But the Tigers, who lost five starters off last year's semistate team, were pumped for this upset from the start and rode a stingy defensive effort against a high-powered Blazer offense to the win.

"Going on last year's feeling, everybody wanted to talk to us," Tiger coach Jamie Byron said. "It did almost feel like we were the underdogs this year. They weren't beating our doors down. They knew we could be a decent team. Nobody really thought we had a chance. I think our girls like being the underdog."

Byron now has two sectional championships in two years as the Warsaw volleyball coach, one in each tournament format.

"It feels nice that we won the first (Goshen 4A sectional), and we won the last (single-class sectional at Columbia City)," Byron said.

Against Elkhart Central, the Tigers stepped up their defensive effort against the Blazers' big hitters, 6-foot Caitlyn Artley and 5-9 Rebecca Palka.

"We are not the most overpowering team as far as offense," Byron said. "That is the one thing I know I can count on with this team is the defense. If the offense isn't there, the defense will usually step up.

"We knew No. 5 (Artley) was going to be a big factor," she said. "We knew that if we could shut her down early, she wouldn't be as big of a factor. I think we did a halfway decent job of doing that. I knew we wouldn't block all of them, but we blocked more than I thought we would."

Once Elkhart Central's offense was neutralized, it didn't have the defense to rally with the Tigers. If the Blazers got a point or a side out, it was a quick play. But when Warsaw got its points or side outs, the play would result in a long rally.

"They didn't let anything rattle them," Byron said. "That is something we have improved on all year. We don't give up the 5- or 6-point runs like we did early in the season."

Warsaw jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first game on a block by Alyssa Raphael. The Tigers stretched the margin to 7-4 before the Blazers cut the advantage to 9-7. Warsaw led 11-8 when the Tigers outscored Elkhart Central 3-1 and looked to close out the game on an ace by Raphael in the corner of the Blazers' side of the court.

But the official right in front of the play didn't make an immediate call, and the apparent Warsaw point was replayed, and the Blazers got the side out and the ball back. But it didn't play a big factor as Warsaw captured the game point short thereafter.

In game two, it was the Blazers who got out of the blocks quickly and held the early 3-1 lead. The Tigers clawed their way back into the game and took a 7-6 lead on a pretty tip from Raphael.

The Tigers led 14-10 at one point, but again had trouble closing the game out and Elkhart Central got three straight points for a 14-13 game. But the Tigers got the game and match winning point on another block from Raphael.

"We were really hustling after all the balls," Raphael said of the Warsaw defense. "We just didn't lose our heart and intensity.

"We kind of felt we didn't have a lot of the pressure because they were probably expected to win," she said. "We really didn't know how they played until they beat Elkhart Memorial (on Thursday.) They lost the first game, and we knew they were beatable."

Nancy Mason led the Tigers with 10 kills and three aces, while Raphael got eight kills and eight digs, Shanna Smith five kills and nine digs, Brooke Sutton five kills and Jessica Zaugg 25 assists.

Warsaw will now face a familiar foe at Saturday's East Noble Regional in Fort Wayne Northrop. The Bruins knocked Warsaw out of the state tourney last year by beating them in the Muncie Semistate.

Semifinals: Warsaw Def. Concord 15-12, 15-6

The Tigers struggled early on against the Minutemen after having not played a match in a week. Warsaw trailed early 7-1 against Concord, a team the Tigers had beaten in three games in their final Northern Lakes Conference match of the regular season.

Warsaw cut the lead to 8-6 before finally the Tigers really got going and rattled off five straight points to take an 11-8 lead. Concord turned around and got four consecutive points of its own to take a 12-11 lead.

But Warsaw's Brooke Sutton served up four straight points for the Tiger game one win.

"We started sluggish, but we at least turned it on," Byron said. "We knew what Concord had, and we knew what they would go to. I was disappointed we didn't get more blocks in the middle. Our blockers were there. They just found a way to get the ball across."

In game two, the Tigers broke away from a slim 7-6 lead by scoring the final eight points of the game to win the match and advance to the championship match.

"We just wanted this one a little more," Byron said. "It is sectional, and I told them that losers go home. You lose and go get the basketballs, and we are not ready for that yet."

Sutton had 12 kills, Smith 10 kills, Raphael eight kills, 10 digs, Mason seven digs and Zaugg 37 assists. [[In-content Ad]]