Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Coming off of a much-improved second regular season for the program, the Warsaw boys volleyball team looked to pick up its first ever sectional victory on Wednesday night when traveling to Northridge to take on Elkhart. Instead, the Lions got off to a 2-0 lead before the Tigers were able to get things going, but eventually, Elkhart was able to escape with a 3-2 victory to send Warsaw home.
The Tigers couldn’t have gotten a better start to their postseason journey, scoring the first three points of the match, which included a kill from Logan Carl to get things going. However, the Lions were quick to come up with an answer, scoring four of the next five points to tie.
It didn’t stay that way for long, as Elkhart struggled to land a kill attempt in bounds over the next few minutes, resulting in a plethora of unanswered points for the orange and black. The Warsaw front line had something to do with this, extending far above the net to make it incredibly difficult for their opponents to find a middle ground to place their strikes.
As the two sides continued to rack up the points, the Tigers remained in front for quite some time, it wasn’t until later in the set that the Lions began to get into a rhythm, going on a 5-0 run to take a two-point advantage at 18-16. It was almost as if the roles had reversed, as now it was Warsaw that couldn’t get out of its own way.
Upon taking the lead for the first time, Elkhart never surrendered it. The orange and black were able to get within two late, but the representatives from the NIC shut the door late to take a 1-0 lead after a 25-20 win.
The second set of the match remained tight for a considerable amount of time, with neither side able to go up by more than two points. The Lions held the lead for a majority of the time, but the Tigers were able to come up clutch when they needed to, rallying at opportune times to pick up enough points to prevent their opponent from pulling away.
Even though the Tigers were able to stick around and prevent things from getting out of hand, they were also unable to go on a long enough run to jump in front. As Elkhart got closer and closer to taking a 2-0 lead in the set, they were getting better by the point. At 20-15, the Lions took their largest lead of the set thus far and forced a Warsaw timeout.
The Tigers waited until the last possible minute to make a run, but down 23-18, the orange and black strung four straight points together to tighten things up to a one-point game, forcing a Lion timeout in the process. It looked as if Warsaw might find a way to steal the set, but a crucial service error coming out of the break spelled doom, as Elkhart scored the next point as well to finish off a 25-22 victory that put their opponent’s backs against the wall.
Under the watchful eye of head coach Jason Fleming, Warsaw senior Nolan Haussmann bumps the ball during the first set...Nieter
Needing momentum back on their side ASAP, the Tigers scored five of the first six points of the third set. They did not take their feet off the gas from there, preventing their opponents from scoring more than one point at a time en route to taking an 8-2 lead and forcing a timeout.
Warsaw’s lead didn’t dip below six very often over the next few minutes, as a switch had been flipped and it seemed as if the orange and black had taken complete control of the game. Momentum continued to pile up for the visitors as a couple of big kills by Levi Brath made it a nine-point game.
Elkhart refused to let their opponent back into things by punting on the set. Following the burst that made it a nine-point difference, the Lions went on to rattle off six straight points themselves to tighten things up significantly. While the home side was able to stay within four for the rest of the way, the Tigers were able to hold on to a 25-22 victory to get back into it.
Warsaw kept it up by scoring the first four points of the fourth set to continue putting pressure on their opponents. This time though, Elkhart did not let the visitors continue to extend their lead. Instead, the Lions were able to rally and go up 7-6 to get some of that momentum back.
From this point, the fourth set began to resemble the second, with both teams stacking points and going back and forth with neither side able seize control. Before long, it was 15-15 and it was anyone’s guess on who was going to take charge and win this thing.
It would be the Tigers that scored seven straight points late in the set to break it open and force a timeout. Junior Cadyn Greer was controlling the net extremely well here, picking up some massive kills and blocks as his team kept it going on the scoreboard.
The Lions made Warsaw work for it, but the visitors were able to withstand the late run to escape with a 25-20 win. After looking dead in the water after two, the Tigers had battled back to force an all-important fifth set.
While things remained neck-and-neck for the first 10 or so points, Elkhart began pulling away by scoring five straight. Trailing 11-6, Warsaw had a lot of work to do in order to keep its season alive. From that point on, anything that could go wrong for the visitors did. Whether it was not getting enough on a block or accidently touching a ball headed out of bounds, the orange and black did not get the ending they were looking for after the comeback, as the Lions took the final set and the match with a 15-10 win.
Warsaw will return next season.
