Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The first home game of the season for the Warsaw volleyball team was a doozy on Wednesday night, as the Lady Tigers nearly blew a 2-0 lead before defeating Leo 3-2 at the Tiger Den in what was an incredible battle from both teams.
“This was a challenge for us tonight. We have a very inexperienced team this year and you saw that tonight,” Warsaw head coach Chandra Hepler said. “We kind of just expected them to roll over after going up 2-0 but it doesn’t work like that. Credit to Leo for making us earn it tonight.”
After a straight-set victory in the junior varsity match, Warsaw wasted no time racking up a big lead in the main event of the night. Scoring five of the first six points of the game, the Lady Tigers quickly jumped in front by using their signature rapid-fire offense.
But just as the momentum leaned heavily towards the home side during the game’s initial points, it went just as far the other way in the sequence that followed. The Lady Lions would go on to score six of the next seven points that followed to take a brief lead of their own. This would begin a trend that lasted all game long: whenever Warsaw was able to put together any success at all, Leo would go on to match and often exceed it immediately.
The defense of both sides was the story during this first set. Each point felt like it took an eternity to score as players dove in every direction to pull off some miraculous digs. On one occasion, Warsaw libero was able to reach the ball with the tips of her fingers to keep a point alive after an errant block, a point the Lady Tigers ended up winning.
Eventually, the home side was able to separate a bit, forcing a Leo timeout with the score 13-9. The run continued after the break, as players such as Maddie Williamson and Casandra Jackson dominated at the net, both killing and blocking shots on nearly every point.
As the end of the first set neared, the Lady Lions were able to close the gap quite a bit, getting to within two. However, Warsaw was able to win some big points down the stretch and captured a 25-19 win on a kill by CeCe Goode.
It was Leo that got off to the hot start in the second set, building an early lead thanks to some well-placed serves. Afterwards, the Lady Tiger offense was able to pick it back up, and a pair of back-to-back kills by Williamson tied things up.
This led to a Warsaw run. With Madison Branam serving, the home team rattled off six straight points to go up by five. It continued to be a game of runs as Leo answered nearly right away to tighten things up.
As the Lady Tigers worked to regain control of the match, their depth was on full display. Lexy Whittenberger would come in to serve. Reagan Edwards entered the contest to defend the net, and did so well. With a 2-0 lead in the match near, it was all hands on deck for the home team.
The Lady Lions did well in the closing moments of the second set to stick around until the final point, but the Lady Tigers were just too consistent to overcome. Warsaw took the second set 25-19 on an ace by Branam.
Sophomore Reagan Edwards of Warsaw elevates well above the net for a kill during the second set...Nieter
As was the case in the set prior, Leo was able to get out to an early lead before Warsaw answered and went in front themselves. To add to the similarities, Branam was serving once again, adding two more aces to her total. This time, the Lady Lions had an answer for the Lady Tiger avalanche and were able to jump back in front.
They’d stay there for the rest of the set, dominating at times and snuffing out any hopes of a comeback Warsaw had, winning 25-17.
The Lady Lions kept momentum on their side as the fourth set began, staying in front throughout the early going. Some tough kills for Goode and Branam helped reset the tone for Warsaw, but the Lady Tigers kept committing too many unforced errors to sustain anything.
“Every time we got something going, we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. We will get better. But we let them right back into that game tonight.”
The home team remained in front, but just barely, as the game neared its conclusion. Then, Leo was able to unleash another run that saw them leapfrog the home team. With just a few points remaining, Warsaw had to figure it out fast to avoid a fifth set.
With things tied at 20-20, it was the Lady Lions who took control late, tying things up and forcing a fifth and final set with a 25-23 win.
Down big early, some big aces by Olivia Rooney helped Warsaw try to crawl back into things in the abbreviated fifth set. Eventually they would, tying things up at nine and taking the lead a point later.
The tension only mounted from there as both teams had their fair share of highlights down the stretch. The score was tied once more at 13-13, forcing the Lady Tigers to talk things over one last time. After an astonishing six more ties from that point on, a kill by Goode finally finished things off for the Lady Tigers 21-19 in the fifth.
Branam had 21 assists and four aces. Hepler had 29 digs.
Warsaw (3-1) is at the Carmel Round Robin on Saturday
