Warsaw Spikers Suffer Rare NLC Loss
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
It happens so rarely that sometimes the answers are hard to come by.
But it isn't hard to figure out why the Plymouth Pilgrims handed Warsaw's volleyball program just its second Northern Lakes Conference loss in the past eight years, and both at the Tiger Den no less.
Defense. Defense. Defense.
The scrappy Pilgrims handled everything the big hitters from Warsaw would throw at them and rarely let a ball fall to the court untouched. This tenacious and frustrating defense helped the Pilgrims rally for a 7-15, 16-14, 15-8 win, dropping the Tigers to 2-1 in the NLC.
"We were hitting the ball hard, and we hit it in the right places," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said. "Give credit to Plymouth, their defense was always in the right spot. They came up with the incredible dig at the right time when it was critical."
After a tough and emotional game two, won by Plymouth, neither team appeared ready to take control in the crucial game three. The two teams traded eight sideouts to open the game until Warsaw jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
But the margin was short-lived as the Plymouth defense continued to fluster the Tiger hitters and come up with big shots of their own. The Pilgrims ran off five straight points to take a 6-5 lead.
It went back and forth from there until Warsaw, with an 8-7 lead, started to unravel. On three straight plays, the Tigers respectively allowed a pass to hit the court untouched for a Plymouth point, passed a potential set into the net for a another point and got a spike no higher than the net for a third point and the Pilgrims built up a 10-8 lead.
"It is such a weird game with the momentum swinging from side to side at different times," Byron said. "If we can't manage to stop their momentum, those kind of plays are going to happen. It is volleyball, it is going to happen, and we have to be ready to pick those up."
Plymouth's Erica Delp then did the rest.
The 5-foot-10 middle hitter for the Pilgrims got two big kills and a block to help Plymouth run off the final five points to improve its own NLC mark to 2-1.
"We didn't play poorly," Byron said. "We are getting better and getting closer to finishing something."
Another problem for the Tigers was serving. In that final game, Warsaw committed five service errors, which either killed a Warsaw rally or stopped one before it even got started.
"We got to the far (West) end, and it was drafty until they turned off the blowers," Byron said. "We told the girls they needed to just step back and put the ball in the court. We missed some key serves, but that is when our defense needs to step up and get the sideout."
The first game was a contest of runs as Warsaw jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead behind the play of Nancy Mason and Alyssa Raphael.
Plymouth came right back with seven consecutive points of its own, including three aces from Stacie Frey, to knot the count at seven.
The Tigers then got crucial serving of their own from Janel Polk and Shanna Smith to close the Pilgrims out with eight unanswered points and a 15-7 game one win.
If the Tigers were thinking that the game one win was too easy against a talented Plymouth team, they were right.
Plymouth stepped up its defense in game two and swept the floors with their uniforms, diving and getting to virtually every missile that Warsaw fired at them.
Warsaw, did however, hold a 14-12 lead when Brooke Sutton misfired on a serve, and Plymouth took advantage.
Libby Myers got two big kills for the Pilgrims, and Lisa Faulstich ran off four straight points for the 16-14 win.
The Tigers, winners of the last six NLC titles, are in an interesting position now. They have to face a dangerous Wawasee team next before a showdown with NorthWood on Oct. 2. The Panthers appear to be the team that could unseat the Tigers atop the NLC volleyball world.
"We are going to keep practicing, and going down to Ben Davis this weekend will help," Byron said. "We will see some great competition down there.
"We can't hang our heads," she said. "NorthWood already defeated Plymouth pretty handily, and this is what we have to look forward to. We have Wawasee coming in next Thursday, and they will be looking to do the same thing Plymouth just did."
Raphael led Warsaw with 10 kills and seven digs; Mason added nine kills and Smith got four kills and nine digs.
Also, Liz Owens had five digs and an ace with Polk getting two aces. Jessica Zaugg paced Warsaw with 27 assists.
Plymouth completed the sweep after its junior varsity team got past Warsaw in three games, 15-9, 8-15, 15-10.
For the Tigers, Megan Burns had 11 kills and 16 digs; Nerecia Taylor and Sara Parker got four kills, while Adrienne Wilka collected 15 digs.
Warsaw (7-7, 2-1) is at the Ben Davis Invitational Saturday at 9 a.m. [[In-content Ad]]
It happens so rarely that sometimes the answers are hard to come by.
But it isn't hard to figure out why the Plymouth Pilgrims handed Warsaw's volleyball program just its second Northern Lakes Conference loss in the past eight years, and both at the Tiger Den no less.
Defense. Defense. Defense.
The scrappy Pilgrims handled everything the big hitters from Warsaw would throw at them and rarely let a ball fall to the court untouched. This tenacious and frustrating defense helped the Pilgrims rally for a 7-15, 16-14, 15-8 win, dropping the Tigers to 2-1 in the NLC.
"We were hitting the ball hard, and we hit it in the right places," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said. "Give credit to Plymouth, their defense was always in the right spot. They came up with the incredible dig at the right time when it was critical."
After a tough and emotional game two, won by Plymouth, neither team appeared ready to take control in the crucial game three. The two teams traded eight sideouts to open the game until Warsaw jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
But the margin was short-lived as the Plymouth defense continued to fluster the Tiger hitters and come up with big shots of their own. The Pilgrims ran off five straight points to take a 6-5 lead.
It went back and forth from there until Warsaw, with an 8-7 lead, started to unravel. On three straight plays, the Tigers respectively allowed a pass to hit the court untouched for a Plymouth point, passed a potential set into the net for a another point and got a spike no higher than the net for a third point and the Pilgrims built up a 10-8 lead.
"It is such a weird game with the momentum swinging from side to side at different times," Byron said. "If we can't manage to stop their momentum, those kind of plays are going to happen. It is volleyball, it is going to happen, and we have to be ready to pick those up."
Plymouth's Erica Delp then did the rest.
The 5-foot-10 middle hitter for the Pilgrims got two big kills and a block to help Plymouth run off the final five points to improve its own NLC mark to 2-1.
"We didn't play poorly," Byron said. "We are getting better and getting closer to finishing something."
Another problem for the Tigers was serving. In that final game, Warsaw committed five service errors, which either killed a Warsaw rally or stopped one before it even got started.
"We got to the far (West) end, and it was drafty until they turned off the blowers," Byron said. "We told the girls they needed to just step back and put the ball in the court. We missed some key serves, but that is when our defense needs to step up and get the sideout."
The first game was a contest of runs as Warsaw jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead behind the play of Nancy Mason and Alyssa Raphael.
Plymouth came right back with seven consecutive points of its own, including three aces from Stacie Frey, to knot the count at seven.
The Tigers then got crucial serving of their own from Janel Polk and Shanna Smith to close the Pilgrims out with eight unanswered points and a 15-7 game one win.
If the Tigers were thinking that the game one win was too easy against a talented Plymouth team, they were right.
Plymouth stepped up its defense in game two and swept the floors with their uniforms, diving and getting to virtually every missile that Warsaw fired at them.
Warsaw, did however, hold a 14-12 lead when Brooke Sutton misfired on a serve, and Plymouth took advantage.
Libby Myers got two big kills for the Pilgrims, and Lisa Faulstich ran off four straight points for the 16-14 win.
The Tigers, winners of the last six NLC titles, are in an interesting position now. They have to face a dangerous Wawasee team next before a showdown with NorthWood on Oct. 2. The Panthers appear to be the team that could unseat the Tigers atop the NLC volleyball world.
"We are going to keep practicing, and going down to Ben Davis this weekend will help," Byron said. "We will see some great competition down there.
"We can't hang our heads," she said. "NorthWood already defeated Plymouth pretty handily, and this is what we have to look forward to. We have Wawasee coming in next Thursday, and they will be looking to do the same thing Plymouth just did."
Raphael led Warsaw with 10 kills and seven digs; Mason added nine kills and Smith got four kills and nine digs.
Also, Liz Owens had five digs and an ace with Polk getting two aces. Jessica Zaugg paced Warsaw with 27 assists.
Plymouth completed the sweep after its junior varsity team got past Warsaw in three games, 15-9, 8-15, 15-10.
For the Tigers, Megan Burns had 11 kills and 16 digs; Nerecia Taylor and Sara Parker got four kills, while Adrienne Wilka collected 15 digs.
Warsaw (7-7, 2-1) is at the Ben Davis Invitational Saturday at 9 a.m. [[In-content Ad]]