Warsaw Spikers Fall To Concord In Sectional Semifinal
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
DUNLAP – The Warsaw volleyball team's dream of a sectional championship ended in nightmarish fashion Saturday. Hoping to end the day celebrating the program's first sectional title since 2004, the Lady Tigers were instead swept by Northern Lakes Conference foe and host Concord in the day's first semifinal. Avenging a 3-0 loss at Warsaw on Oct. 9 during regular season NLC competition, Concord toppled the Lady Tigers 25-12, 26-24 and 25-22. “Concord played better under pressure,” said Warsaw coach Mike Howard, whose team has fallen in the Class 4A sectional semifinals in each of the past three seasons. “We didn't execute well. We weren't well-coached today. We didn't play well.” While Concord improved to 25-9 and advanced to Saturday night's sectional final against No. 9 Elkhart Memorial, Warsaw finished its otherwise outstanding season with a 28-6 record. “It's very disappointing said Howard. “It's sad the seniors are going out like this. I really feel for them, Katie Voelz and Celia Heckert.” Memorial, which beat Goshen in Saturday’s second semifinal, topped Concord 25-18, 25-17, 26-24 in the title match and will host Penn in a regional battle Tuesday. With Warsaw going 7-0 in the NLC and opening tournament play Thursday with an easy three-game win over Elkhart Central, the talk surrounding the sectional was of a potential Warsaw/Memorial matchup in the final. The Lady Tigers beat Memorial in a five-game thriller in Elkhart early in the season, and a rematch Saturday night certainly seemed possible, if not likely. Credit Concord, however, as the Minutemen had other ideas. “You have to get through,” Howard said when asked about all the talk of Warsaw and Memorial playing in the final. “Concord is tough on this court. You have to get to the championship before you can talk about that.” Facing elimination after dropping the first two games to Concord, the Lady Tigers fell behind 5-0 in Game 3. Warsaw battled back and tied the score at 8-8, and the teams traded points until the hosts clung to a 23-22 advantage. With the Lady Tigers' fans screaming encouragement and pleading for them to stave off elimination, Concord scored the final two points of the game and ousted Warsaw from the tournament. “We didn't play well on the big points, the pressure points,” said Howard. “When we got a lead we couldn't sustain it. It was a number of system things. Once the score got to 20, Concord played better than us.”
