MISHAWAKA – The third time wasn't a charm for Warsaw's varsity volleyball team. Playing the 10th-ranked Elkhart Memorial Crimson Chargers in the semifinal round of the Class 4A volleyball sectional semifinals at Penn High School, the third meeting between Memorial and Warsaw this season, the Lady Tigers fell 28-26, 27-25 and 25-20 Saturday morning. The games were as close as the scores indicate, but that wasn't a silver lining for coach Mike Howard, whose Lady Tigers saw their season end with an otherwise impressive 23-8 record. “We had three things we wanted to do this week,” said Howard, whose team lost 2-0 to Memorial during the Mishawaka Tournament, as well as 3-1 during the regular season. “We had a plan to attack Memorial ... 1) We wanted to play with pace, and we did that successfully. We played really fast. We played fast on the outside, and we were successful. 2) We wanted to outserve and outpass them. We missed, probably, 20 serves. That was the difference in the first set, missing seven serves, and missing serves coming out of timeouts in the second set. “And the third piece of our plan was being in system, understanding defensively having three up in the middle on the block, and you saw the last point of the third set our left front blocker didn't go block. “So, we executed one of the three things we wanted to do. So, it comes down to execution. We didn't execute two of the three phases we said were important to us.” Howard, whose team had hopes of winning the program's first sectional championship since 2004, went on to say again that his team didn't serve well, which gave the Crimson Chargers too many free points, and the Lady Tigers weren't in system defensively. In the first set, the Lady Tigers led 11-5 and eventually 17-12. Things were going their way early. When Warsaw's advantage got to 17-12, Memorial coach Jacquie Rost called a timeout, and the Crimson Chargers responded by quickly cutting the deficit to 18-17. After a number of back-and-forth points, the Lady Tigers held serve and a 26-25 lead. Memorial, however, scored the next three points to win the set. The latter stages of the second set were similar to the first, the teams battled back and forth, and when the Crimson Chargers needed a crucial point they scored it. Memorial raced out to an 18-8 lead in the third set, and the Lady Tigers appeared to be on their heels before cutting the deficit to 22-17. “It's hard to expect them to not lose a little bit of confidence, to not lose a little bit of faith when you're down 2-0 and you have your chances to win both of them,” said Howard. “It's a lot better to be up 2-0 than it is to be down 0-2. But we also talked all week about having to win three. It doesn' matter if you win the first three, or the last three, or if it's somewhere in between. We prepared to be in the situation where we might be down 0-2. So, to come out and not handle the ball clean to start (the third set), and to make a couple service errors, again it came down to serving and passing.” With the win over Warsaw, Memorial improved to 26-9 and advanced to the evening's sectional final against Penn, a four-set winner over Northridge. Memorial went on to beat Penn in the finals and will play LaPorte in a regional match Tuesday. Cassie Hoag led the Lady Tigers Saturday with 31 assists, while Peyton Adamiec was tops in digs with 19, Lina Mayer was tops in kills (16) and aces (2) and Jordyn Lindeman had a team-high two blocks. With the season now over, Howard must bid farewell to six seniors – Blake McGarvey, Courtney Steffensmeier, Haley Peterson, Adamiec, Mayer and Lindeman. “It's a great group of girls, we've been with them a long time,” Howard said of his six seniors. “It'll be emotional in that locker room. To graduate a player like Jordyn Lindeman, to graduate a Peyton Adamiec, to graduate a Caroline Mayer, Blake, Haley, Courtney ... they've meant a lot to our program. They've done wonderful things. You don't want to take anything away from the things they've done, what they've been a part of. They've been a part of huge victories. I'm just sad that we were unable to get them that sectional victory I know they desperately wanted.”
