The Warsaw and Penn volleyball teams each brought 26 wins into Monday's match at the Tiger Den, but the Lady Kingsmen's 41st ranking (ESPN Rise) in the country carried a little more weight.
Class 4A No. 1 Penn (27-1) left Warsaw (26-7) with a three-game victory (25-17, 25-19, 25-14), putting a damper on Senior Night."I knew this was going to be a tough match, because the emotion of senior night is always a tough one," Penn coach Lisa Pawlik said. "We really wanted to come here and play, although it is a long (trip) for both of us. Every year, we always go, 'Why do we do this?' It's always a great match and we always look forward to the competition here."
A nice-sized crowd turned out to see the final home match for Krista Bragg, Natalie Decker, Annie Holderman, Madison Long and Emily Umbaugh, putting a buzz in the air. However, the well-rounded Lady Kingsmen made it tough for the celebration to last long.
"You have to learn how to play with emotion and use it to your advantage and not let it become a burden for you," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said.
And even though Penn came in very highly-touted, Howard wasn't looking for anything but a win.
"We're at the point in our program where playing well against them isn't enough," he said. "There's no such thing as a moral victory. It's either win the match or you don't win the match."
In order to win the match, Warsaw had to be mistake free, but that wasn't the case. On the night, Warsaw lost three points via net violations, while also giving Penn another eight points when serves either landed out of bounds or didn't get over the net.
"They don't make mistakes, so every mistake you make is compounded," Howard said.
When mistakes were made, Penn was there to capitalize with some big hitters.
"You have to be in position," Howard said. "We were just out of position a little bit. The block doesn't get there to close, which makes the defender have to move. Then you're out of position. If you're not in the right position, you're not going to dig a lot of these balls."
Penn was led by senior Emily Crowe's seven kills, while sophomore Rebecca Lira, junior Kaitlyn Hickey and senior Kristen Cornish each had six and seniors Samantha Heberling and Sarah Dikos both had five.
On top of her kills, Crowe also led the way with four blocks and Dikos had four aces.
For Warsaw, it was Decker bringing the big hits, finishing her final match at the Tiger Den with seven kills.
"They're a quality team and a quality program all the time," Pawlik said about Warsaw. "They are never afraid to swing the ball and make great things happen. They use lots of different people. There's never that one go-to girl, expect for (Decker). She's going to get her numbers."
Decker was accompanied by Bragg and Umbaugh on attacks, with each posting five. In Long's final home match, she had 21 assists, seven digs and two aces.
With the regular season over, Warsaw will now look to the Class 4A, Sectional 4 at Northridge High School.
Receiving a first-round bye, Warsaw and Goshen meet at 1 p.m. on Oct. 23 to see who gets a spot in the championship match, where the Class 4A, No. 5 Elkhart Memorial Crimson Chargers likely await.
"You don't want to look over anybody," Howard said. "It's a great opportunity for us with Memorial on the opposite side of the draw, but you don't want to look past the team you're playing to get there."
PENN DEF. WARSAW 25-17, 25-19, 25-14
Kills - Emily Crowe (P) 7, Natalie Decker (W) 7, Rebecca Lira (P) 6, Kaitlyn Hickey (P) 6, Kristen Cornish (P) 6, Samantha Heberling (P) 5, Sarah Dilkos (P) 5, Emily Umbaugh (W) 5, Krista Bragg (W) 5 Assists - Alexandra Pawlik (P) 33, Madison Long (W) 21; Digs - Natalie Meert (P) 14, Hickey (P) 11, Pawlik (P) 9, Alex Sanchez (W) 8, Long (W) 7, Sarah Johnson (W) 6, Annie Holderman (W) 5; Aces - Dikos (P) 4, Crowe (P) 2, Long (W) 2, Umbaugh (W) 2, Sanchez (W) 2; Blocks - Crowe (P) 4, Pawlik (P) 2; Records: Penn 27-1, Warsaw 26-7
