Lady Tigers beat Blue Blazers in volleyball sectional opener
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
DUNLAP – Warsaw was the better team on paper, and the Lady Tigers certainly proved it on the court. In the opening round of the Class 4A volleyball sectional at Concord High School, Warsaw had little trouble sweeping the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers in Thursday's opener. With their 25-10, 25-12, 25-14 win, the Lady Tigers improved to 28-5 on the season and took a step toward the program's first sectional championship since 2004. “Tonight was about winning and moving on,” said Warsaw coach Mike Howard. “It's a postseason match, you never know how it's going to go ... injuries, you don't play well. You just never know.” Howard had little – if anything – to worry about. His team dominated from the start of the match, and as a result advanced to Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinal match with Concord (24-9), which swept Northridge in Thursday's second matchup. Goshen (14-17) and Elkhart Memorial (25-8) square off in Saturday's second semifinal at approximately noon. The sectional final is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. Though the Lady Tigers swept Concord on Oct. 9 in Warsaw and beat Memorial in a five-game thriller on the road in late Aug., Howard isn't taking anything for granted. “I don't know if we're the team to beat,” said Howard. “Memorial is the team that has won all the sectional championships lately. We're just trying to break through and taste some postseason success. We're the underdog, that's how we're looking at it. We know we're going to have two tough matches Saturday.” In Thursday's sectional-opening win, the Lady Tigers served 13-straight points in Game 1 and built a 19-2 lead over Elkhart Central, which finished the season with a 14-14 record. In Game 2, the teams were deadlocked at 12-12 before Warsaw scored the final 13 points. In the third and decisive game, the Lady Tigers led 14-9 before stretching their advantage and ultimately ousting the Blue Blazers from the state tournament. Howard said a big key to Thursday’s win was serving. “We served the crap out of the ball tonight,” said Howard. “We have six strong servers, and that really puts pressure on the other team.” As a team, the Lady Tigers served up 14 aces in the victory, led by junior Blake McGarvey’s six and junior Peyton Adamiec’s four. Senior Katie Voelz led the way in kills and digs with 15 and 13, respectively, while junior Caroline Mayer and Adamiec added 12 digs each. Junior Cassie Hoag tallied 26 assists for the Lady Tigers, while junior Jordyn Lindeman had three blocks.
