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It all started on Oct. 19.
Warsaw had just finished as runners-up in its own tournament with a 15-7, 15-3 loss to Fort Wayne Northrop. The loss wrapped up a subpar (by Warsaw's standards) 19-14 regular season, including a stretch of 12 losses in its last 22 matches.
That was then, and now the Tigers have won five straight in the postseason and haven't been challenged in winning the Columbia City Sectional and Huntington Regional. This Saturday, though, the Tigers get to see exactly how far they have come when they meet up again with that same Northrop (37-2) team in the first game of the Delta Volleyball Semistate Saturday at 11 a.m.
"It will definitely be our biggest test (of the postseason)," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said. "But with each win and as far as we have come in the tournament, the girls get a little more confident. Everybody thinks because we are the only unranked team, then we can't win it. But I am telling them why not us, why shouldn't it be."
The other semifinal matchup pits No. 2 Muncie Central (37-2) against No. 7 Delta (33-4).
The Tigers have taken some lumps this year, but the experiences (bad and good) have seemed to make Warsaw a better team come tournament time. Of Warsaw's 14 losses, 11 of those have come to ranked teams. The question is, how much have the Tigers learned from those losses?
"At the time we were losing those matches, it didn't seem like a whole lot, it just hurt because it was a loss," Byron said. "It is definitely helping us in the part of our season. If we hadn't been playing the caliber of teams we have, there is no way we would still be here."
Northrop coach Larry Bleiler said his Bruins won't get caught looking ahead to a possible meeting against one of the Muncie powerhouse teams in the semistate finals.
"They are a good team," Bleiler said of Warsaw. "We know they probably didn't play their best the last time we played because they have beaten some good teams lately. We are not taking them lightly. Just because we won last time, we are not going to take anything for granted or be overconfident. They (Northrop players) understand how good Warsaw can be and how potentially dangerous they can be."
Northrop hasn't been playing too badly lately or this season with a No. 4 ranking in the poll and suffering its only two losses of the season at the hands of No. 1 Muncie Burris and No. 2 Muncie Central.
"We have our ups and downs," Bleiler said. "We struggled early in some matches, but have still been able to win. At times, our serving breaks down. But they have been practicing well this week, and they are ready to raise it another level."
Incredibly, Bleiler is still looking for that one match where he can say his team put everything together and played at or even above its potential.
"We haven't peaked yet," he said. "We showed signs of starting to peak so hopefully we will be able to get to the next level Saturday."
Northrop is led by hitters Kelly Petty, Stacy Zimmerman and Stephanie Bishop. Although none of Northrop's hitters really stand out in the number of kills, Bleiler says that Petty is the go to person on the court.
"We really don't have a star on our offense because it is pretty well spread out," he said. "It gives us nice balance. It doesn't let teams key on any one of our hitters because they are about the same. If we pass well, we have been a very good side out team. That has been our strength all year."
Byron sees slowing down that powerful offense of the Bruins as a big key for the semistate.
"In watching the tape, Bishop and Zimmerman just killed us," Byron said. "We watched more of what we did on our side in reaction to what they were doing to us. We didn't do a whole lot. We left them a lot of line on our block and just blocked cross court. With smart hitters that Northrop has, they will take advantage of a hole like that.
"Blocking is going to be the key," Byron said. "We have to get a touch on every single ball. Even if we don't block it down, the most important thing is to get a touch and slow it down."
The Bruins, who have been in four straight semistates, have plenty of experience on the team with six seniors that see starting or key reserve time this year.
Warsaw will counter Northrop's offensive punch with a good one-two combination of its own in seniors Lisa Estep and Sarah Calhoun, who have combined for over 600 kills this year.
"You have to respect their left side with Estep and Calhoun," Bleiler said. "They also play good defense and run down a lot of balls."
