GOSHEN - The Warsaw volleyball team had the No. 1 team in Class 4A on the ropes, but failed to land the knockout blow Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Goshen Sectional.
Up 2-1 and in front 20-15 in the fourth game, it appeared the Lady Tigers (29-5) were about to upset Elkhart Memorial (32-2). However, the Lady Crimson Chargers won the next 10 points of the game, winning 25-15 and then taking the fifth game 15-10, moving on in the postseason with a five-game victory (23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 15-10)."It's going to haunt me for a while," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said about the 10-straight points scored by Memorial in the pivotal fourth game. "It was our serve-receive. Our serve-receive broke down for us. We talked all season about how we pass the ball. We felt there weren't many teams that could play with us. You saw that in Games 1 and 2. We received the ball beautifully. The third game, it broke down for us. (In the fourth game) we were strong right to the end when it got to 20-15, then we couldn't get the ball in system."
Memorial junior Lisa Parsons kick-started the run with a kill, then senior Lindsey Leonard served the next nine points, five of which were scored after Warsaw hit the ball out-of-bounds.
"I have four seniors this year, and Lindsey Leonard is one of them," Memorial coach Jacquie Rost said. "You hate to pull this card, and I don't do it very much, but this was it for seniors. I said. 'This is it. So, what are you going to do?' Everything she can do is serve and play well in the back. She did, and I'm so excited for her."
Following the win over Warsaw, Memorial claimed its third-straight sectional title, defeating Elkhart Central 25-20, 25-13, 25-11.
In 2007, Memorial was the state runner-up, while also making the Final Four last season. So, getting tested in the second round of the sectional may have come as a bit of a shock.
"That was not the way I wrote it out," Rost said. "The positive is, the girls, with their backs against the wall, really came back strong. All we said in the time-out is, 'You have to believe in your ability and in each other, and just focus on 25 points at a time.' I felt like they did a good job of that."
The script Rost didn't write was losing the opening two games, 25-23, 25-22.
In the first two games, Warsaw went tit-for-tat with the favored Chargers, getting hands on attacks, and then getting the ball into system, getting some pretty good attacks of its own.
On the day, seniors Corinne Coon and Sarah Shilling each had 11 kills. Coon also finished with 16 digs, while Shilling had three blocks.
After falling in the big hole, Memorial responded in the third game, scoring the first eight points, eventually winning 25-19.
"They started tipping and chipping around our blocks," Howard said. "We just didn't pick it up well enough. We just didn't read it and pick it up enough to make those plays. They were there to be made. Memorial made them and we didn't."
Warsaw looked to have turned things around in the fourth game, using a 9-1 spurt to run its lead to 13-4.
"I told them in practice we were going to win in four (games)," Howard said. "It sure looked like that was going to happen. We knew we had progressed enough to beat them. Offensively, we knew if we were in system, we were going to give them all sorts of trouble and sure looked like what we talked about in practice was going to come true. That's why they're Elkhart Memorial though."
The Chargers did battle from the nine-point hole to cut the Warsaw lead to 20-15, and what happened from there has already been chronicled.
"We kind of stopped subbing so much," Rost said about the turnaround. "The girls, for whatever reason, probably Warsaw, really came out gunning. We were on our heels a lot. We weren't aggressive with serving, we weren't aggressive with attacking and that always sets the tone for us."
Warsaw played from behind throughout the entire fifth game, as its season came to an end instead of continuing with a statement win.
"We just couldn't put them away," Howard said. "They're not a repeat state finalist for no reason. They're not ranked No. 1 for no reason. We just couldn't punch them out. It looked like it was going to happen, but we just couldn't make the play in the fourth game."
Memorial is No. 1 for a reason, as senior Brittany Anglemyer and sophomore Cassidy Parson each had 14 kills, Lisa Parsons had 11 and senior Krystle Troyer had 10.
Outside of Coon and Shilling's production, Warsaw received 36 digs from senior Kaitlin Reichard, junior Natalie Decker had eight kills and junior Madison Long finished with 31 assists, 15 digs and four kills.
"We've made great strides this season," Howard said. "We have more work to do to get to that mentally-tough state. To be a statewide contender."
All five of Warsaw's losses came against state-ranked teams, including two from Memorial, (Class 4A, No. 5) Penn, (Class 3A, No. 4) Mishawaka Marian and (Class 2A, No. 1) Muncie Burris. According to the ESPN Rise Fab 50, Burris is No. 2 in the country, while Memorial is No. 28 and Penn is "on the bubble."
"It was a great season," Howard said. "We won four out of our five tournaments. Our only losses were to nationally ranked or top five in either 3A or 4A. Elkhart Memorial is still our measuring stick. They graduate people, we graduate people. We have to go through them."
ELKHART MEMORIAL DEF. WARSAW 23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-10
Kills - Cassidy Parsons (M) 14, Brittany Anglemyer (M) 14, Lisa Parson (M) 11, Sarah Shilling (W) 11, Corinne Coon (W) 11, Krystle Troyer (M) 10, Jordan Dillman (M) 9, Natalie Decker (W) 8, Madison Long (W) 4; Aces - Amanda Troyer (M) 3, Lauren Sciarra (W) 3, K. Troyer (M) 2, Brianna Moore (M) 2; Digs - Kaitlin Reichard (W) 36, A. Troyer 34, Lindsey Leonard (M) 23, K. Troyer (M) 22, Coon (W) 16, Long (W) 15, Anglemyer (M) 13; Assists - Moore (M) 59, Long (W) 31; Blocks - Shilling (W) 3, Krista Bragg (W) 2, Anglemyer (M) 3 (assisted), C. Parson (M) 3 (assisted); Records: Memorial 33-2, Warsaw 29-5
