Recording 47 kills, the hitters on the Warsaw Tiger volleyball team killed the Columbia City Eagles shot at a win Tuesday at the Tiger Den.
In the four-game victory, 18-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-11, Warsaw improved to 11-2 on the year thanks to at least eight kills from four different girls.The assault was led by junior Corinne Coon's 14 kills, followed by junior Sarah Shilling's 11, sophomore Natalie Decker's 10 and senior Tara Akers' eight.
"(Coming into the season) our hope was to have a spread offense," Warsaw coach Mike Howard said. "To be able to move the ball around the court. We have certain players and we want to be able to take advantage of their skills whenever we can. It's nice to have a lot of versatility. Tara Akers came in tonight and played fantastic off the bench."
Defensively, Shilling and Decker had match-highs in blocks, with three each. The Tigers also received two blocks from Coon and senior Kelsey Green.
"We have to get blockers up there in their face," Columbia City coach Trish Hinen said about competing with Warsaw's frontline. "We can't just have one girl out of six on the floor that can block. We gotta get blockers up there. And we have to be smart when we hit. We're never going to be taller than anybody, so we have to be smart hitters. Then we just hit right to their blocks everytime."
Columbia City's one girl that could physically compete with Warsaw's front row was junior Abby Puckett, who had three kills, three blocks and two aces in the loss, while senior Kaeleigh Porter led the Eagles with four kills.
"They were strong in the middle with Puckett and Kaleigh Porter," Howard said. "We kind of shut them down on the outside, both on the right side and left side with our size up front. It was a big advantage for us tonight."
The Tigers were able to execute from the outside thanks to the passing of sophomore Madison Long, who finished the match with 36 assists.
"She's athletic and just gets to a lot of balls, making plays for us," Howard said of his setter. "She just goes out there and tries to do her job. She's learning as she goes."
In their latest match, all the girls learned something, which was to come out of the gates fast.
After falling behind 6-0 to the Eagles in the initial game, Warsaw could never recover, eventually losing 25-18.
Of the 25 Eagle points, 15 were bestowed upon them thanks to Tiger errors.
"We just couldn't put the ball in play," Howard said of the first game loss. "We couldn't hit the ball on offense and we couldn't serve the ball, which is a strong suit for us usually. Once we got our serves in the games two, three and four, our offense starting rolling a lot better."
The Tigers did go on to post 14 aces in the match, led by Long and junior Lauren Sciarra, who both finished with four. With the serves getting in, Warsaw cruised in the next three games, resulting in the victory.
"If we come out ahead, we're on fire," Hinen said. "If we come out and get in the hole two or three points, we just back out. That's something we have to work on."
The loss leaves Columbia City with a 5-4 record, and Hinen is hoping to work on that record by getting her girls some confidence.
"Right now, we just aren't at the point where we believe we can play with a team that the girls think is good," she said.
On the other side of the net, the Tigers are playing with confidence, as showcased by their 11-2 record. But even with the superb record, Howard hasn't seen his team reach its ceiling.
"There's lots of room for improvement," he said. "We're young, so there's always room for lots of improvement. We're just trying to get a little bit better. We play (Elkhart) Memorial at the end of the season, potentially at sectional, and that's our goal. We want to try to get good enough to make a run at them."
The Tigers next shot at improvement comes Thursday at Northern Lakes Conference opponent Plymouth, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
WARSAW DEF. COLUMBIA CITY 18-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-11
Kills - Corrine Coon (W) 14, Sarah Shilling (W) 11, Natalie Decker (W) 10, Tara Akers (W) 8, Kelsey Green (W) 4, Kaeleigh Porter (C) 4; Assists - Madison Long (W) 36, Courtney Vanderlaan (C) 9; Aces - Lauren Sciarra (W) 4, Madison Long (W) 4, Abby Puckett (C) 2, Karly Shaw (C) 2; Blocks - Shilling (W) 3, Decker (W) 3, Puckett (C) 3, Green (W) 2, Coon 2; Digs - Reichard 24, Kelci Freds 13
