COLUMBIA CITY - First-year Warsaw volleyball coach Jamie Byron didn't have to wonder very long how a season-ending slump would affect her team in the sectional.

The Tigers (20-14) jumped all over Central Noble in the second game of the Columbia City Volleyball Sectional and never looked back in cruising past the Cougars, 15-1, 15-2, Thursday.

The match took a little over a half hour to finish as the Tigers completely dominated the overmatched Cougars.

"Coming off the loss in our tournament, we had to make a decision of how we were going to come in and be prepared for the sectional tournament," Byron said. "We knew we had a lot of areas to work on, and we came into the gym every single day, and we were committed to getting better and being more of a team. I think we proved that tonight by the way we came out on fire."

Warsaw led 4-1 in the opening game before kills by Sarah Calhoun, Lisa Estep and Katie Clemens turned up the heat on Central Noble as Warsaw scored the final 11 points of the game.

Central Noble led in game two 2-1 when Estep stepped to the serving line. When she was done, she had served 14 straight points, led by three kills and a block from Calhoun, to give Warsaw a second easy victory.

"I thought the first game we played almost flawlessly," Byron said. "We had a few mental errors here and there, you will have those in any match. In the second game, we started out pretty even, and I thought then we really stepped it up a notch there."

"They came out and proved something to themselves and to me tonight," she said.

Byron, who admitted being a little nervous with her first sectional as a head coach, now has today to get ready for Whitko in the second game on Saturday.

"We have the momentum on our side, and we have the first win under our belts," she said. "For me, I was a little more nervous than they were since this is my first sectional as a coach. It is a little different being on this side of the playing field.

"This is going to carry us a long way," she said. "The win is going to be very important for us in preparing tomorrow night (today) for Whitko on Saturday. You never know what you are going to see when you play Whitko. We have to be prepared for anything."

Estep led the Tigers with 9 kills and 3 aces, while Calhoun had 7 kills and 4 digs, and Clemens added 3 kills. Estep also had 3 aces, and Sheila Whitaker added 2 aces, Ann Fribley 8 digs, and Melissa Bolles 11 assists. [[In-content Ad]]