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NAPPANEE - To celebrate their regional championship Saturday evening, the girls on NorthWood's volleyball team piled into Natalie Will's van for a late-night road trip.
They didn't go far. Around 1 early Sunday morning, the girls jumped out and sneaked their way up to Peg Bough's house.
Being that this is time for Halloweenin', being that they were still juiced after their win, they T.P.'d Bough's house.
Bough - their head coach - heard them.
"We caught 'em," she said. "The van they were in hit a post afterward. Then they came back to finish the job. (Kern, her husband) went out. He had to know who it was. He saw Will's van."
Sitting here in NorthWood's activity center two days later, Bough chuckles. She wasn't about to spoil their little fun. After all, the girls rewarded her with her first regional title in seven years at NorthWood. Add to that the team has a 30-4 record, which is believed to be the first time NorthWood volleyball has won 30 matches.
It's hard to get mad at 30 wins and a regional championship.
The Panthers, ranked No. 9 in the final class 3A poll, were favored to win matches more often than not. When they beat Wawasee to win the sectional, it was expected. When they beat No. 10 Mishawaka Marian 15-12, 15-4 to win the regional, that was even expected - they faced and beat Marian two times during the regular season.
NorthWood built a gaudy 30-4 record because the Panthers' have hitters - Jamie Gill, Will, Amy Zercher, Angela Hattery, Colleen Miller - who can intimidate at the net.
"Where we really dominate people is at the net," Hattery, a 5-8 senior, said. "We have really good blockers, and as a team all around, we have really good hitters. We pretty much adjust to (other team's) blocks.
"That's where our success has come from," Bough said. "Other teams haven't been as big as us."
Until now.
When NorthWood meets Delta in Saturday's Peru Semistate, the Panthers won't be favored. Delta is 31-3. Delta is ranked No. 1 in Class 3A.
And Delta is one team with taller players than NorthWood has.
"What I have heard so far is Delta has some really good middle hitters," Bough said. "(Delta) is probably one of the teams who can match up with us with their size. They have a couple of 6-foot middle hitters."
Gill acknowledged Delta's advantage.
"We're not used to teams being bigger at the net than we are," she said.
In a way, this is OK with Gill. Gill, a senior who stands at 5-10, is closing in on 300 kills this season. She is the team's leading attacker.
With Delta, at least Gill and NorthWood know what they're getting. Delta won't try to trick anyone.
"They won't be tipping at the net," she said. "I'd rather them hit it at us than try to tip it."
The rationale behind this? Teams that have tipped well have given the Panthers trouble at times.
"We're not really used to covering for tips," Hattery said.
Still, this is Delta. Not only will the big hitters hit hard, they will place their shots well, too. Bough realizes this. Delta isn't No. 1 for nothing.
"When you get to this point, the competition changes," Bough said. "We know Delta's played a heckuva schedule. We know Delta's going to do a lot of things that force us to make errors. I repeat this over and over: How will you react to those things? What will you do in return? Stand around and let them hit at you or retaliate and come back?"
Bough brings up the match against Indianapolis Chatard, a school with a strong volleyball tradition. Chatard had a talented hitter. NorthWood took advantage when she was in the back row. The Panthers did the same thing against Marian last week. When Marian's Elizabeth Albert, another talented hitter, was in the back row, NorthWood used that time to pull away.
Find those opportunities. Make Delta find holes to hit into. Avoid lapses. Hit over Delta's blockers. Place your shots, hitting the line if you can.
These are the some of the things Bough has jotted down on a piece of yellow legal pad paper she pulls out of her pocket.
"Delta can find the holes to hit into, but let's make them do that," she said. "You cannot afford to have (lapses) against the teams you'll play from now on. If you do, a couple of points, but no more than that. You cannot give teams points. You have to make them earn it.
"Teams now won't make those unforced errors. You have to cause the other teams to make errors."
Say NorthWood goes in and loses the first game. Some might say the Panthers are cooked. Bough doesn't think so.
Here's why.
"We've been in almost every situation," she said. "Coming out real strong, then lapsing. Coming out lapsing, then coming back strong. We've been behind and come back from behind. We've been ahead and kept the lead. We've done a lot of different things and come out on top.
"The first game is crucial, but it's not the end of the world. You still have two more to play. You may be going into the end of the game, and you may not win. But you need to build momentum at the end of that game so you're ready to go into the second game. Get some momentum going so you're not coming out flat as a pancake."
Bough will ride the horses that got her this far. Gill, Hattery, Miller, Will, Zercher and setter Marla Yoder have started all season. That's the lineup Bough will put on the court against Delta. And once Bough puts those players on the court, they rarely - if ever - grab some bench.
"When it comes tournament time, you have your tournament team," Bough said. "I like all-around players. I think you break some momentum sometimes when you substitute."
When Bough talks this week, at times she sounds like a salesman. That's part of her role. She's not only a coach; she's also a salesman. She has to sell her players on why they can beat Delta.
It's working. Hattery can't wait for Saturday to arrive.
"I would think the pressure's on (Delta)," she said. "We've never been here before. They're No. 1. To keep that position, they have to beat us. I've been pumped about this ever since Saturday. I think we have a really good chance of winning, because I know our team. We have a lot of potential."
Whether NorthWood wins depends on whether the girls do what they did last Saturday night. Not T.P.'ing houses, but smiling, which they were undoubtedly doing when they trashed Bough's yard.
Players smiling on the court has been big on Bough's list all year. Seriously. Few are the times a Peg Bough interview goes by without her stressing how she always tells her players to smile on the court. It means things are going well. Kern pointed this out to her earlier this season
"My husband can always tell who's winning," she said, "by which team is smiling and which team's not."
Box
Class 3A Saturday Semistate Matchups
First-round matches: 11 a.m.
Second-round matches: 12:30 p.m.
Championship: 7:30 p.m.
Peru Semistate
No. 9 NorthWood (30-4) vs. No. 1 Delta (31-3)
No. 6 Bellmont (30-4) vs. Andrean (35-2)
Shelbyville Semistate
No. 4 Jasper (27-7) vs. No. 2 Indianapolis Cathedral (27-8)
Providence (22-15) vs. No. 3 Indianapolis Roncalli (30-6)
