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Fresh off a win over Mishawaka on Tuesday to begin Northern Lakes Conference play, the Warsaw volleyball team traveled to Goshen on Friday night to try and make it two wins in as many tries in the NLC. The Lady Tigers were locked in from the jump, wasting little time in picking up a 3-0 sweep.
“It’s been a challenging start to the season so far. We’ve played four of the top 10 teams in the state and we’ve been battling some injuries,” Warsaw head coach Chandra Hepler said. “But the bright side to that is that these girls are battle tested and are ready to tackle the rest of the schedule.”
For the second straight game, the Lady Tigers wasted no time getting down to business against their conference opponent. The visitors scored eight of the first 10 points of the night, getting contributions from all over the court. A majority of the damage was coming from the front line, with the usual heavy hitters of Reagan Edwards, Cassie Jackson and Harper Setser making their presence felt early.
Thanks to that early lead, Warsaw was able to coast for a vast majority of the first set. The team was using as many players as it could, constantly rotating to keep bodies fresh, and it was working well. The Lady RedHawks weren’t without their moments though, stacking three straight aces together during a 5-0 run that cut the lead in half and tightened things up to 19-14 late in the game.
While the late run made the end result a tad closer than the Lady Tigers would have liked, it was too little too late, as it did not change the final outcome of the set. An ace from Alayna Lantz was the final point in a 25-17 victory that put the visitors up 1-0 in the match.
Warsaw was able to take that momentum and run with it, scoring the first eight points of the second set to take a commanding early lead in that one. The front line was still having a tremendous game, and was getting pretty much whatever they wanted on each point.
As the game wore it, it seemed more and more likely that at least for this set, the home side had no answer for what the Lady Tigers were throwing at them. Edwards and Setser were soaring above the net to deliver kills. Madison Branam was feeding them perfect passes. Every player out there was hustling to get to a dig and keep the play alive. This was another night in which Warsaw was operating like a well-oiled machine.
The orange and black never slowed down in that second set, looking outright dominant in a 25-7 victory that put them just one win away from their second straight NLC win to begin the year.
Warsaw junior Ellie Greene blocks the kill attempt of Goshen's Cami Villarroel during the second set...Nieter
Fighting to stay alive for another set, the Lady RedHawks offered about the best counter they could to begin the third game. The home side was able to jump out to a 6-1 lead, forcing Hepler to call an early timeout. The quick break in the action seemed to refocus the team, as the visitors were able to answer with a run that tied things up at 10-10.
“We definitely still need to work on our passing and ball control a bit, but that’s what you go through when trying to replace a four-year libero,” Hepler said. “I like what I saw for the most part tonight but that was my message during the timeout. Just trying to get everyone settled.”
They took their first lead just a point later, but Goshen refused to back down. The set remained incredibly tight as the two sides neared the 25 point threshold. Finally, with things starting to wind down, the Lady Tigers were able to reach into that extra gear and find some separation. Taking a five-point lead at 19-14, that looked to be enough to get the visitors across the finish line.
It was. The Lady Redhawks emptied the gas tank during the game’s final points, but just didn’t have enough left to match the firepower of their opponent. The Lady Tigers ended the game on a massive run to finish the third set with a 25-15 win on an Erika Shimasaki ace to secure the sweep.
Setser led the team with 13 kills, followed by 10 for Edwards. Branam had 30 assists and eight digs, both team highs.
Warsaw (7-6, 2-0 NLC) returns home to take on Northridge on Tuesday.
