Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw volleyball coach Tanya Coon is talking about her team's so-so season when Warsaw basketball coach Will Wienhorst walks up and says, "She's going to state."
Coon does not deny the prediction.
"We have tickets," she joked. "We're going no matter what."
Coon looks back on the regular season and sees only two matches where the other team beat the Tigers.
"Penn and Muncie Central," she said. Muncie Central is ranked first and Penn sixth in Class 4A.
Thing is, Warsaw's record entering Thursday's Goshen Sectional is 16-16.
What about the other 14 losses?
"The other games we lost we beat ourselves," Coon said. "We made the errors, we made the mental mistakes."
This is why, when asked about her first season as volleyball coach, Coon pauses to collect her thoughts.
"It hasn't gone like I hoped it would," Coon said. "The girls' skill levels have improved, but they haven't gotten to the point where they are playing to their ability level and their focus.
"I'm disappointed the girls are not going to the next level and playing as well as they could be."
Playing at the next level is what Coon knows Warsaw will have to do to win the Goshen Sectional. After facing East Noble, a team with only four wins, in the first round, the Tigers figure to meet 26-4 Concord in the second round. Concord, considered the favorite to win the sectional, would have to get by Elkhart Central in the first round.
Coon says Warsaw can - and should - do this.
"(Concord) is the favorite going in, but it's nothing our girls can't deal with if they decide to play," she said. "That's been our problem all year -Êputting up a good fight. We don't do that."
Warsaw gave Concord a battle during the regular season, losing 15-10, 15-13.
"Our biggest problem when we played them, once we adjusted to their middle hitter, was getting the block on their outside hitters," she said. "They have good hitters."
Coon sees so much more her team can accomplish. Before the season started, she went on record as saying Warsaw should win the NLC, the sectional, the regional and end up in the state finals.
She remembered making those comments in August. She still stands by them. She believes in her girls.
"We have all the talent to make us sectional champs, NLC champs, regional champs," she said. "They just don't have the drive and desire that will take them there."
Coon sees the positives -Êher middle hitters are hitting the ball harder than ever, the outside hitters are solid, and the defense improves every match.
Then mental toughness is brought up. Then the word "expectations" is brought up.
"It's probably the light just hasn't come on yet," Coon said. "They give it 100 percent in practice. In a game, it's not there yet. Part of it could be in the past couple of years the expectation levels weren't that high for them. Maybe this year it was more than they expected. It should be high. I know they are capable.
"We have everything we need to beat any team. If we turn on the heat, we can go far."
If the light goes on, maybe the Tigers won't need the tickets to get to the state finals.
They'll be playing in them.
Coon believes they can.
*******
Plymouth 3A Sectional
Tippecanoe Valley has changed 3A sectionals in 1999, moving from Fort Wayne to Plymouth.
This means Valley no longer has to worry about getting beat by Elmhurst, the team Valley drew and lost to in the first round the last two years.
Elmhurst was 25-4 in 1997 and 28-5 in 1998 after beating Valley. Both times Elmhurst went on to win the sectional.
So it got easier for Valley, right?
Wrong.
Now Valley (21-10) plays in a sectional with No. 8 Rochester (29-4) and Mishawaka Marian (24-9). Valley lost to Rochester 15-11, 15-10 during the regular season.
"It sure didn't get any easier," Valley coach Jon Parker said. "We left a sectional with good teams and fell into a sectional with good teams. The coaches I talked to say Mishawaka Marian and Rochester are the favorites."
The Vikings have one thing in their favor: They did not draw Rochester or Mishawaka Marian in the first round.
They play Culver Military Academy in Thursday's first-round match.
"The first draw we got a team we think we can play with," Parker said.
On paper, the Vikings are favored to beat CMA. If they do, they will win their first sectional match in the 1990s. But Valley could meet Mishawaka Marian in the second round and Rochester in the championship.
Valley ended the regular season by facing Rochester, No. 4 Southwood (2A) and Bremen. While Valley lost all three, Parker figures these teams prepared the Vikings for the sectional.
"We played tough teams at the end of the season," he said. "We're going in with the attitude we have nothing to lose."
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Oregon-Davis A Sectional
Mark this down: Triton is favored to win its sectional.
Even coach Gayle Perry acknowledges this is new to Triton, to be favored.
"It's different," she said. "Usually we're the underdog. Now we're the hunted."
Triton is favored only because Michigan City Marquette, ranked No. 1 in Class A, moved to the Washington Township Sectional. Marquette beat Triton in the three previous sectional championship matches.
At 23-10, the Trojans own the best record of any team in the Oregon-Davis Sectional. The second-best team is South Central (LaPorte), and Triton defeated the Satellites 15-1, 15-13 in a regular season match. Triton meets South Central at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"This would be our first sectional title," Perry said. "Sometimes the first is the hardest to get."
Volleyball Sectionals
Goshen 4A Sectional
Oct. 21
Warsaw (16-16) vs. East Noble, 6 p.m.
Concord vs. Elkhart Central, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23
Goshen vs. Elkhart Memorial, 11 a.m.
Warsaw/East Noble winner vs. Concord/Elkhart Central winner, 12:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7 p.m.
Records of local teams are listed
Plymouth 3A Sectional
Oct. 21
Tippecanoe Valley (21-10) vs. CGA, 6 p.m.
Whitko (9-18) vs. Mishawaka Marian, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23
Rochester vs. Plymouth, 11 a.m.
Tippecanoe Valley/CGA winner vs. Whitko/Mishawaka Marian winner, 12:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7 p.m.
Lakeland 3A Sectional
Oct. 21
Angola vs. Lakeland, 6 p.m.
Northridge vs. NorthWood (21-12), 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23
Wawasee (12-18) vs. West Noble, 11 a.m.
Angola/Lakeland winner vs. Northridge/NorthWood winner, 12:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7 p.m.
Southwood 2A Sectional
Oct. 21
Lewis Cass vs. Northfield, 6 p.m.
North Miami vs. Manchester (6-23), 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23
Wabash vs. No. 4 Southwood, 11 a.m.
Lewis Cass/Northfield winner vs. North Miami/Manchester winner, 12:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7 p.m.
Oregon-Davis A Sectional
Oct. 21
LaCrosse vs. Culver Community, 6 p.m.
Oregon-Davis vs. Argos, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23
No. 8 Triton (23-10) vs. South Central (LaPorte), 11 a.m.
LaCrosse/Culver winner vs. Oregon-Davis/Argos winner, 12:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7 p.m.
