LIGONIER – Wawasee delievered a couple good shots, but the Class 3A No. 6 Fairfield volleyball team absorbed them and answered back in Sectional 21 action Thursday in Ligonier. Aiming to win a 10th-straight sectional championship, including the last three Sectional 21 titles, the Fairfield Lady Falcons (27-7) began its journey with a three-game sweep of the Wawasee Lady Warriors (15-17) at West Noble High School, 25-18, 25-15, 25-16. With the win, Fairfield moves on to Saturday's semifinals to take on NorthWood, which defeated Lakeland 25-6, 25-8, 25-6 in Thursday's second match. If Fairfield is to take down NorthWood, it will need to clean up its play, as it committed nine service errors and numerous other hitting errors in its sectional opener. “It didn't look very good,” Fairfield coach Carla Herschberger said. “We didn't get much of a rhythm going. Really, it's most of my girls' first sectional.” Despite their sloppy play, the only time the Lady Falcons trailed was at 1-0 following a kill by Wawasee senior Kasey Napier to begin the third game. Outside of that, Fairfield kept Wawasee at bay, although the Lady Warriors did come out with enthusiasm. “They gave everything,” Wawasee coach Jeff Phillips said. “Their emotions were great. The student section was great. I can't fault any mental aspect. Were they in it? Were they giving 100 percent? Obviously. They came out strong, emotional and they were in the match. It never felt like they were tense or tight.” They may not have been tight, but they did struggle with Fairfield's attack, which was led by senior Haley Brown's 11 kills, followed by senior Sierra Smith's nine and junior Lauren Streit's five. Wawasee junior Aly Anderson did her best against the Fairfield hitters, recording 15 digs, while junior Alli Ousley posted 11, senior Hunter Gaerte recorded eight and Napier finished with six. On the attack, senior Lydia Katsaropoulos led the Lady Warriors with seven kills and Napier posted four. Among Wawasee's statistical leaders, Gaerte, Katsaropoulos and Napier were high on the list, and they're the ones that played their final match Thursday. “There's 18 girls in the locker room and only three of them are leaving,” Phillips said. “When you talk about those three, you're talking about girls that played club volleyball all three years (I've coached at Wawasee), came to winter conditioning all three years, committed to volleyball all three years and have created an environment where we've moved up the level of expectation.” Wawasee began the season at 9-1, but injuries helped contribute to a 6-16 finish, as Katsaropoulos and Ousley each sustained concussions that required them to miss a lot of court time. “I told them, when they leave the locker room they should feel like a 20-13 team,” Phillips said. “You had four concussions, two of which were to your two best players, that lasted two-and-a-half weeks a piece. In that time, we lost a match to Goshen, which we haven't lost in a while. You lose a match at the Triton Tournament that we could have easily won, then gone to the championship that we could have won another. Then, you lose to West Noble and Whitko. You're talking about five more wins and four less losses. Even though I've got to write down 15-17, and we lost those matches, but we look back and think without those injuries, it's a pretty successful year.” Even with a full squad, Wawasee didn't have the power to take down Fairfield. “We knew we had to play perfect to win,” Phillips said. “So, by just playing good – those are the scores. That's what happens.” Against NorthWood, Fairfield will be playing a team it defeated in five games on Aug. 27 in Benton, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17, 18-25, 15-9. If it wants to advance to the Sectional 21 championship match Saturday night against the winner of the 11 a.m. match between Tippecanoe Valley and West Noble, Fairfield will need to play much more crisp against NorthWood. “We went five with them earlier this season and we were lucky to pull that one out,” Herschberger said. “It will be a definite challenge. We'll need to bring a different team than the one we brought tonight. That's for sure.”
