A night after getting a five-game win at Mishawaka Marian, the Warsaw volleyball team was back at it Tuesday at the Tiger Den. The win over Marian was Warsaw’s first against the Lady Knights in over a decade, but with Elkhart Memorial looming Thursday, Tuesday's home match against Northfield (4-1) could have been overlooked. And despite coach Mike Howard not being overly impressed with his team, the Lady Tigers (4-1) got a three-game sweep, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22. "It's a trap game and it's one we seem to be falling into all too often," Howard said. "We talk about it all the time. About not looking past an opponent. Wanting to come out and play steady. That's what we did (Monday) against Marian. We won because we were the steadier team. We have lots of talent. It was easy to fall and play, and no disrespect to Northfield, but it's easy to fall prey to who you're playing. They didn't have near the size we have. They weren't going to challenge us at the net. So it was just a matter of being steady tonight." The steadiest Lady Tiger was junior Emily Poe, who finished the match with 12 kills, seven of which came in the opening game. "Emily picked up her offense," Howard said. "She's just such a great athlete. She's going to be able to jump over the girls they had. She didn't do anything spectacular, but she was steady. She just came out and hit the ball and didn't do anything crazy." And with the girls having just played a five-game match the previous night, Howard began to gave them a break with a 2-0 match lead and a 13-7 advantage in the third game. With reserves, Warsaw actually started really well, scoring five of the next six points to take an 18-8 lead, but then things turned sour. Just seven points away from the match victory, Howard had to re-insert some starters after Northfield scored 12 of the next 14 points, knotting things at 20-20. Warsaw went on to win the game 25-22, but having to turn back to his starters didn't make Howard too happy. "Our other players are more than capable, and they have to step up and perform," he said. "That didn't happen tonight. "You make a couple subs, you want to get kids on the court," he added. "They should be in a situation where they're relaxed. We have a really comfortable situation. All you have to do is perform. The next thing you know, when you don't pass the ball, bad things happen to you." Howard wanted to get his starters as much rest as possible knowing Memorial, a team that has won 76 straight Northern Lakes Conference matches, is up next. Knowing Marian defeated Memorial in four games Thursday will give Warsaw confidence. "We like to think (our chances) are good," Howard said about the possibility of being the first NLC team to defeat Memorial. "It depends if the (team that played) Northfield shows up or (the team that played) Marian shows up. If we pass the ball, I think our chances are good. I think our chances are very good if we pass the ball. If we don't and Memorial serves tough, and we struggle with that – it's anyone's game. They're the champs until someone beats them and no one's beaten them in 10 years." Memorial’s 76-match NLC winning streak actually began after it's initial match in the conference, which happened to be a loss to Warsaw in 2001.
