Warsaw Sweeps Wawasee During Pink OutHosting a Pink Out to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research, the Warsaw volleyball team wasn’t as charitable to Wawasee Thursday night at the Tiger Den. Sweeping the Wawasee Lady Warriors (14-8, 0-4 Northern Lakes Conference) in three games 25-15, 25-7, 25-22, the Warsaw Lady Tigers (12-5, 3-2 NLC) were just too big and served too well. Wawasee coach Jeff Phillips, who was an assistant to current Warsaw coach Mike Howard for two seasons, was well aware of what could happen if his squad didn’t pass well. And, according to him, they didn’t. “We passed very poorly tonight,” Phillips said. “Against Warsaw, if you don’t (pass well), you’re probably going to lose. I’m sure we’re not the first team they’ve run off the court, serving-wise, and we won’t be the last. Mike’s philosophy is to serve hard and tough. If you make an error, they have enough offensive firepower to get a side-out and get another server up to do the same thing.” That offensive firepower came in waves, and is a product of a schematic change Howard made after his girls were swept at Columbia City on Sept. 17, which was their fourth loss in six matches. Since then, Warsaw’s defeated Plymouth and finished second at Saturday’s Michigan City Invitational, defeating Elkhart Memorial, a team it lost to on Aug. 29, in two games in the semifinals. “We’ve made some lineup changes, going to a 6-2 (system), which seems to have been effective for us,” Howard said. “Getting an extra hitter each rotation has been helpful. We have three primary hitters (in seniors Laura Craig and Emily Poe and junior Katie Voelz), but now we’re getting some backside swings and great contributions from (freshman) Cassie (Hoag) – not just setting, but also hitting. Then, (junior) Celia (Heckert) has also been a very solid player for us in the front row.” Hoag began the season as Warsaw’s top setter, but junior Megan Chauncey has moved into that position, posting a match-high 21 Thursday. Hoag’s all-around game was showcased, as her eight kills were accompanied by 13 assists, six digs and two aces. “She just has so many different skills,” Howard said. “She can hit, she plays great defense, she serves. We just have to have her on the court. We have to find ways to get her on the court. She makes us better and also to just continue to develop her as a player.” The Lady Tigers’ attack is usually strong, but against a smaller Wawasee team, it looked even stronger, as Voelz had 12 kills and Craig posted seven. “If we could pass, (Wawasee defenders) were there, but we’re just a little bit bigger,” Howard said. “When we run the 6-2, we can run hitters through different zones and gives a kind of confusing look. Against younger teams, like Jeff has, it’s harder to track sometimes.” And with his team struggling to pass, Phillips witnessed the full attack of the Lady Tigers. “We’re not going to be a big blocking team – we haven’t been all season,” Phillips said. Entering the conference season at 9-1, Phillips had stated the fast start wouldn’t mean much if the team leveled off. Since that time, the Lady Warriors have gone 5-7 and 0-4 in the NLC, although they did finish second in their own invitational Saturday. Despite the tough stretch, Phillips isn’t faulting his girls. “I told the girls they’ve got to know they’re a good team, that they’ve been successful and done things that we’ve asked them to do this year,” he said. “Yeah, we’re 14-8 and were 0-4 in the conference, but I can’t ask for a whole lot more than they’re giving. They’re giving everything at practice and they’re giving everything every game. “Everybody’s trying as hard as they can,” he added. “Everybody’s giving 100 percent. We just had a bad night passing and it was against a good, strong serving team. That’s a bad combination.” A positive out of the loss for Phillips was the Pink Out, as it hits him personally after his mother, Pattie Phillips, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. “My mom was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer,” he said. “She’s getting her double mastectomy in a week. So, this is a very personal night for me. I appreciate Mike asking us to be a part of it for the second time. It’s cool to see everybody in pink. It’s cool to do those types of things, so the girls know there was something else going on here tonight.” Phillips takes his team to Saturday’s Crown Point Invitational, while Warsaw hosts its own Saturday. At the Tiger Invitational will be Class 2A No. 6 Southwood, Muncie Burris, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne North Side and Lafayette Jefferson.
