Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Having played their final regular season games against each other just last week, the Wawasee and NorthWood volleyball teams did not have to wait long at all for a rematch, with it coming on Thursday night in the opening round of 3A Sectional 20 at West Noble. While the setting and stakes were different, the result was not, as it was NorthWood advancing to the semifinal round with a 3-0 sweep.
Early in the match, Wawasee was doing a good job of getting the NorthWood offense out of rhythm. Whether it was a setter faking a pass and sending the ball across the net or a well-timed block, the Lady Warriors were forcing their opponents to work outside of their comfort zone a bit, and it was paying dividends to the tune of an early 9-5 lead.
It wasn’t long afterwards that the Lady Panthers began to work out the kinks and really started to get things going. The visitors on the scoreboard would go on to score eight of the next nine points to jump back in front and force Wawasee to find another counterattack. Senior Ellyn Branham was at the center of this run for NorthWood, never leaving the court as she racked up kill after kill from both the front and back lines.
The Lady Warriors counterstrike never came in that first set. Instead, the home side made things much more difficult than they needed to be with far too many unforced errors. The Lady Panthers picked up a handful of points down the stretch just due to a few too many digs going long and into the net by the Lady Warriors. While the team was able to put together a few highlight plays like a thunderous block by Scarlett Hardy or a massive kill from Zaiyla Shortill as they made a run down the stretch, it was not enough as NorthWood jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-20 win in set one.
The second game of the match began a lot like the first one, with Wawasee jumping out to a fast start to grab an early lead. The front line for the home side was doing a great job of making the most of some pretty nice passes from Hadlee Allen by stringing together some kills. However, The Lady Panthers remained persistent, and eventually made the defensive adjustment necessary to take some of those attacking chances away. After 20 points, NorthWood held a slim 11-9 lead.
It remained close for a few more points, but eventually the visitors were able to separate a tad and go up by four, forcing a Wawasee timeout. While a lot of things were working for the Lady Panthers, it truly was their defense that was putting them over the edge. The Lady Warriors were still doing a good job of putting some good kills together, but the work by the red and black back line to consistently come away with dig after dig to deny them was starting to wear on the home side. The lead continued to grow for the Lady Panthers as they neared a 2-0 lead.
Wawasee junior Jadyn Klenke leaves the floor to deliver a serve during Thursday night's sectional match with NorthWood...Nieter
Wawasee did make them work for it, going on another run late in the set, but once again it was too late to stage a comeback. NorthWood was now just a set away from advancing to Saturday’s semifinal with a 25-21 win.
The Lady Warriors used another fast start to begin the third set with a 4-1 advantage, but just as quickly as that lead materialized, it disappeared, as the visitors came storming back in a hurry. That wouldn’t be the only time the lead changed hands though, as Wawasee, fighting for its season, went on a run of its own to go back in front 13-11.
It continued to be a game of runs from there, as the Lady Panthers were not done yet. They’d score five straight to force a timeout leading 16-13, less than 10 points away from punching their ticket to the next round. The break in the action didn’t do much to stop the bleeding, as NorthWood only continued to pull away even further afterwards. The end result of the third set was the same as the first two, as the Lady Panthers sent the Lady Warriors home with a 25-15 win.
Wawasee will return next season.
