HUNTINGTON - Warsaw volleyball coach Doug West said it was just one point, but in a sport where momentum changes as often as the leading presidential candidate, the Tigers and their fans can only wonder "what if" a call against them Saturday in the Huntington 4A Regional had gone their way.

After beating eighth-ranked Fort Wayne Northrop 25-20 in the first game of the best-of-five match in Saturday's first semifinal, the Tigers trailed the Bruins 23-20 in the second game and had junior Noelle Scrafton at the service line.

After Northrop returned Scrafton's serve, a powerful spike by the Tigers that appeared in was called out, giving Northrop the momentum and a 24-20 advantage. The Tigers scored a sideout on the Bruins' next serve, but couldn't regain momentum and fell 25-21.

Some of Warsaw's fans erupted and stood up in disgust at the call, a call that had it been called in, may have allowed the Tigers to keep the momentum and win the second match. That would have put the Tigers up two games to none and put the state-ranked Bruins' backs to the wall.

It didn't happen that way for Warsaw, however, and the Tigers' season ended at the regional round for the second straight year as they fell 20-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-22.

"It's just one point," West said of the controversial call in the second game. "The fact that it happend near the end of the game, that's unfortunate, but it's just one point. We didn't dwell on that, we just tried to score more points and gain momentum."

The loss ended Warsaw's season at 23-14. Northrop improved to 29-8 with the semifinal win, but bowed out of the state tournament after falling to second-ranked Muncie Central (36-2) 25-20, 25-16, in the 7 p.m. championship game.

Muncie Central will battle Penn (29-8) in a state finals semifinal match at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Indianapolis Cathedral (34-4) and New Albany (32-5) square off in the other semifinal.

After falling 25-15 to the Bruins in third game, the Tigers made things interesting when it was them that had their backs to the wall and faced elimination.

The score in the fourth game was tied at eight, nine, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22.

Northrop scored the final three points of the game with sophomore Jordan Fullove at the service line.

After the match, West took time to collect himself and talk to his assistant coaches. He then went into the locker room and talked to the players, many of whom played on the Huntington North floor when the Tigers won the basketball regional in March.

Though disapointed with the loss, West was happy that his team was playing its best volleyball at the right time of the season.

"I'm really proud of the girls," said West. "They played great volleyball today. I thought they took a very, very excellent volleyball team right down to the end. I'm proud of them for that. Northrop has a very experienced setter that runs their offense well and knows where the ball is at all times."

Senior Brittany Raher, the experienced setter West was referring to, will play at Seton Hall next year.

Senior Rebekah Reichard led Warsaw in kills Saturday with 14, in service points with 11 and in blocks with three. Sophomore Danielle DeGeeter led the team with 27 assists and also added eight service points and four digs.

NO. 8 NORTHROP DEF. WARSAW 20-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-22

(Warsaw leaders)

Kills - Rebekah Reichard 14, Julie Seiss 8, Kara Mayer 7, Tasia Smith 6, Kim Clay 2, Cheyenne Runnells 1, Danielle DeGeeter 1

Assists - DeGeeter 27, Reichard 3, Seiss 1, Noelle Scrafton 1

Digs - Runnells 7, Reichard 5, DeGeeter 4, Clay 4, Mayer 4, Seiss 3, Scrafton 1

Blocks - Reichard 3, Seiss 2, Smith 2

Service points - Reichard 11, DeGeeter 8, Runnells 7, Scrafton 6, Seiss 4, Mayer 3, Clay 2

Other semifinal - Muncie Central def. Lafayette Jeff

Championship - Muncie Central def. Northrop 25-20, 25-16, 25-16 [[In-content Ad]]