Warsaw Sweeps Concord, Moves Into Sectional SemisGOSHEN — Fueled by its ability to squelch the opponent’s offense, Warsaw’s attack got on a roll Thursday on the way to beating Concord in the IHSAA Class 4A Goshen Sectional volleyball tournament.
“Defensively, we played really, really sound,” said Tigers coach Rick Ashmore. “It gave us the option to run different plays on offense.”
With multiple ways to go after the Minutemen, Warsaw (25-7) prevailed 25-11, 25-15, 25-11 and earned the right to play Penn (26-6) — a 25-13, 25-19, 25-20 winner against Elkhart Central (16-9) in Thursday’s first match — in the second semifinal on Saturday.
In program history, WCHS has won 12 sectional titles. Crowns during the class era have come in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2018.
“It’ll be fun,” said Ashmore of the match with Penn. “Both teams will come ready to play.”
Saturday’s first contest pits Northridge against Elkhart Memorial at 11 a.m. The championship is slated for 7 p.m.
The Tigers used a multi-faced attack led by junior Kennedy Lauck (12 kills), freshman Kaylee Weeks (12 kills) and senior Gwyn Bellamy (8 kills) to win Thursday.
“We’ve had depth on offensive throughout the season,” said Ashmore. “We’ve got a lot of kids with a lot of kills.
“We’ve moved the ball around. When we lost (junior Betty Barnett; the team’s top hitter in 2018) early on (in the season), we started having faith in other people.”
Warsaw also applied service pressure. Sophomore Kylie Smith (6), freshman Avery Hales (3) and junior Kendra Love (2) led the Tigers in aces.
“The kids were hitting the zones they were given,” said Ashmore. “If Concord gets in a rhythm, they can play.”
The Tigers beat the Minutemen 25-8, 25-14, 25-20 in Northern Lakes Conference play in Dunlap Oct. 10.
In the rematch, sophomores Ella Norwood (7) and Sophia Trout (5) were kill leaders for Concord. For the second straight match, the Minutemen were without sophomore Emmie Eakins and had to move freshman Allie Moss into the setter spot and move other players around.
“Without our setter, our offense is totally different,” said Concord coach Kelly Chupp. “The pace of things we’re doing has to slow down.
“There was definitely some adversity. I’m proud of the girls for not giving up.”
Warsaw was led in assists by Hales (34), blocks by Hales (2) and sophomore Abby Sanner (2) and digs by junior Kendra Love (9), Hales (8) and Smith (8).
