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The events were a whirlwind, the night a blur.
After watching Warsaw's volleyball team ransack Columbia City 15-4, 15-2 in less than an hour on Tuesday, the first words to tumble out of the mouth of Columbia City coach Katie Bruening were, "I need to breathe."
In a night where children on volleyball teams from Warsaw's 11 elementary schools were introduced, the varsity Tigers put on a clinic.
"I was very impressed with Warsaw," Bruening said. "They run a very up-tempo offense."
Warsaw coach Tanya Coon remembered one other match out of Warsaw's first 12 that went as smoothly as this one did for her team.
"The big focus going in this time was for us to play at our level and not play down to theirs," Coon said. "We didn't play at the other team's level."
They did not have to get fancy, did not have flip deep into the playbook. If it were a football game, the Tigers rammed the ball down the opposition's throat. If it were a basketball game, the Tigers scored all their points on layups.
Myra Sells led Warsaw in kills and blocks with six in each category. Lindsay Woods delivered five kills, and Kristen DeGeeter had three kills and three blocks.
Abby Sumpter led with 16 assists. Lindsay Simcoe paced the Tigers with three digs and two aces.
Bruening even called the Tigers an "up-tempo" team. The Tigers run a fast-paced offense that often keeps teams from being in position defensively, whether it be for blocking or digging. Countless times Bruening watched her players fail to close the block and fail to get where they needed to be on the court defensively.
"I don't think my players understand exactly what it takes to win yet," Bruening said of her team, which has three seniors and five freshmen in the mix. "That will come with experience and an increase in desire."
Tips were few on this night as smashes to a gaping hole in the middle of Columbia City's defense worked just fine. Extended volleys could be counted on one hand. Warsaw sprinted out to a 7-0 lead in the first game then followed that with a 7-1 lead in the second game.
"Our servers picked out (Columbia City's) weak spots, their holes, and they served to the spots I told them to," Coon said.
And no, this was not an upset, as Warsaw improved to 12-1 and Columbia City fell to 4-7.
Still, Bruening has seen glimmers of hope. Fort Wayne Concordia is a volleyball powerhouse with a strong tradition, and her Eagles led the Cadets 14-13 in the first game, only to miss three straight serves.
As easy as Tuesday's match was for the Tigers, Thursday's may be just as difficult. The Tigers travel to Northern Lakes Conference foe Plymouth.
Warsaw is 2-0 in the NLC.
"Plymouth is one of the better teams in the NLC, along with NorthWood," Coon said. "There won't be many changes, but we have to be quicker when we play Plymouth."
WARSAW DEF. COLUMBIA CITY 15-4, 15-2
Warsaw leaders
Kills -ÊMyra Sells 6, Lindsay Woods 5, Kristen DeGeeter 3
Assists - Abby Sumpter 16
Aces -ÊLindsay Simcoe 2, Ashley Hart 1, Sumpter 1, Amie Poling 1
Digs - Simcoe 3, Kara Kesler 2
Blocks - Sells 6 (4 solo), DeGeeter 3
Records - Warsaw 12-1, Columbia City 4-7
JV - WARSAW DEF. COLUMBIA CITY 15-2, 15-6
Warsaw leaders
Kills -ÊMichelle DeGeeter 8, Nicole Deford 7, Krystan Klotz 3
Assists - Heather Barrett 15
Digs -ÊDeford 4, Mechelle Henderson 4, Klotz 3, Amanda Poling 3
Points -ÊDeford 8 (1 ace), Klotz 6 (2 aces), Henderson 5 (1 ace)
Warsaw record -Ê9-2
