The Warsaw volleyball team raised money for the Kosciusko County Cancer Fund Thursday, but got greedy when it came to claiming the Northern Lakes Conference championship all to itself. Entering the NLC match, Warsaw sat at 6-0, while Concord was 4-1 and Elkhart Memorial was 5-1. Instead of risking a three-way split of the crown, Warsaw got it all to itself after a tough three-game sweep, 29-27, 30-28, 25-17. “You don’t want to have to share it,” Warsaw coach Mike Howard said of his team’s second NLC title in three seasons. “You don’t want to be real greedy. but on the other hand, you don’t want to have to share it.” After ending Elkhart Memorial’s reign atop the NLC two years ago, the Lady Tigers went 5-2 in 2013. Graduating eight players from last year’s squad, there were plenty of questions entering this season, but they were answered when the Lady Tigers got a five-game victory (25-16, 23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 17-15) at Elkhart Memorial on Aug. 28. “Once you beat Memorial, the season changes,” Howard said. “You start to see some belief in kids, and they followed that up with good play against quality teams. They win the matches they’re supposed to, then they build belief and believe they can compete at a high level.” After defeating Memorial, Warsaw did get a scare at Goshen a week later, winning in five, beginning a stretch that has seen the team go 16-1. “I don’t know what the expectations were (coming into the season),” Howard said. “When you have two new outside hitters at the beginning of the year, before we moved (senior) Katie (Voelz). You have a new starter in the middle and (sophomore setter) Cassie (Hoag) running a 5-1, where she’s been tremendous for us. You have (senior) Celia (Heckert) playing full time on the right side. In the beginning, we had so many injuries that we were going real deep into the bench, giving girls a lot of opportunity to grow.” They did grow, and Thursday night they were celebrating another NLC title, which Howard said had a different feel from the one in 2012. “It’s all new kids in all new roles,” he said. “Kate was there (in 2012), but she was playing middle, and was a blocking factor and was a growing part of the offense. It’s just completely reloaded. It’s exciting, because we have a lot of these kids coming back. We’ve had quite a bit of continuity, and we want to keep that going. That’s hard to do in this conference.” Voelz has indeed taken on a much larger role in her senior season, and it showed against Concord, as she finished with 21 kills, 19 digs and two aces. She also got some needed help, as juniors Jordyn Lindeman and Caroline Mayer each had eight kills, as well as three and two blocks, respectively, while sophomore Peyton Adamiec led the team with 29 digs. “They found ways, and it wasn’t the people you would have expected to come in and make plays tonight,” Howard said. “Jordyn Lindeman came in when we kind of backed our lineup up a little bit, to match up with (Concord senior middle hitter) Gabby (Staggs), giving her a little bit different look on the block. Jordyn got some huge blocks for us. Caroline Mayer came and was a difference maker at the net. She got several blocks and just took huge swings when Staggs rotated out. Peyton also just got better for us as the match went along. She was pretty steady.” Like much of the season, Hoag was also a major contributor in the victory, recording 45 assists. “She’s the engine,” Howard said. “She makes us go. She makes 1 and 0 passes into 2 or 3, where we have options. Not just a push the ball over the net, but a swing from someplace on the court. Her speed is impressive. Her defensive abilities really help the team.” Howard was well aware of Staggs, as Warsaw’s one blemish in its 16-1 record since Sept. 4 was a best-of-three loss to Concord at the Sept. 20 Michigan City Invitational, a tournament Warsaw ultimately won. In that 17-25, 25-19, 25-13 loss, Staggs had eight kills, making her a focal point Thursday. “We wanted to defend this team in a little bit different way than we usually do, and it took us a while to sort of get in system,” Howard said. “It’s hard if you play one way, then you have to adapt. They’re a difficult team to defend with Staggs in the middle. She’s big and can hit over some of our blockers. It is a challenge. She is a load.” Staggs had her moments, recording 14 kills and two blocks in the loss. Adjusting to a new style of defense, Warsaw struggled to create separation in the opening two games, and actually trailed 26-25 in the opener, then 23-19 in the second, before rallying each time. “Just high IQ plays a lot of time,” Howard said of his girls fighting off losses in the first two games. “It’s really exciting to have those kids that know how to win.” Settled in, the Lady Tigers jumped out 5-1 in the third, and Concord was never able to draw even. With the NLC title in its back pocket, Warsaw faces back-to-back Class 4A ranked opponents next week, beginning with a home match against No. 19 Penn Monday, then going to No. 6 Carroll Wednesday. Howard may feel like his girls have earned a spot in those 4A rankings, having defeated No. 10 Memorial and No. 15 Valparaiso, but isn’t letting it affect him or his girls. “Sometimes all that does is make the target on you a little bit bigger,” he said. “We know we’re a quality team. We know we’re a quality program.”
