DUNLAP - Warsaw's volleyball team lost to Elkhart Central Thursday in the first round of the Concord Sectional.

The Tigers' fate may actually have been sealed two days earlier on Tuesday.

This is when they lost Nancy Mason, lost their senior middle hitter, lost one of their leaders in kills, lost one of their leaders in blocks, lost one of their leaders in digs.

And without her Thursday, Warsaw lost 13-15, 16-14, 15-5. Warsaw ends the season with a 14-19 record, while 22-12 Elkhart Central faces Concord in Saturday's second round. Last year Warsaw won the Concord Sectional by beating Elkhart Central in the sectional championship.

Mason, one of three seniors on the team, sprained her ankle Tuesday. Since that day she and physical therapist Tom Johnson worked feverishly to speed the healing process, but to no avail. Mason used one crutch Wednesday. She had gotten rid of it yesterday, but she was still in no shape to play.

Find a way to get to Saturday. This is all Warsaw coach Jamie Byron hoped for. Then Mason would be back for the second round.

The Tigers needed Mason to get to Saturday.

After the match, a red-eyed Byron stood at the end of a hallway by herself, wiping tears away with the back of her hand. Concord coach Jim Routhier approached Byron to offer words of encouragement.

"She's our big gun," Byron told him. "That killed us. She could have been the difference.

"That was the biggest blow to our team. Right there, that took away our heart and soul."

Taking Mason out of Warsaw's lineup would be like taking Sammy Sosa out of the Cubs' lineup.

What Warsaw had left to rely on was guts and guile and grit, and these things carried the Tigers for a while. They fell behind 5-0 in the first set and trailed nearly the whole way through only to pull out a 15-13 win.

When they pulled ahead 10-5 in the second set, it looked like Byron would get her wish to make it to Saturday. Five points were all they needed.

The Tigers could not close the deal.

The Blue Blazers stormed back to win the second game 16-14. Given a crack, they kicked the door down. Their frontline, comprising sophomores and freshmen save one junior, dominated the rest of the second set and all of the third set.

Elkhart Central put Warsaw in a 8-0 hole in the third game.

"That's been our problem all year, closing teams out," Byron said. "We didn't get the critical points. We just made some poor choices on our attacks. If the outside was open, we went middle."

Elkhart's front line was led by 6-foot freshman Leticia Armstrong, 5-11 sophomore Leslie Bloss and 5-9 sophomore Jessica Furseth. These explosive jumping jacks were like a cereal box. You shake the cereal out. You never know what you're going to get. Maybe a lot of marshmallows if you like Lucky Charms¨. Or maybe the free prize they stick in the box.

At times they made mistakes; at times they were electric.

Make no mistake, they took the game over.

"The block and our defense was the difference," Elkhart Central coach Karen Scholbohm said. "(Warsaw) let up. They were afraid of being blocked. You could see it in their eyes.

"My outside hitters did an outstanding job."

Byron and Warsaw were left to wonder, What if? What if they had Mason? Could the Tigers have won? Would they have won?

They'll never know.

"With our middle hitter out," Byron said, "I would have to say Elkhart was favored, but I wouldn't ever tell our girls that." [[In-content Ad]]