Lady Tigers Sweep NLC Foe Memorial In Sectional Action
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
DUNLAP – The final score shows that Warsaw’s volleyball team swept Elkhart Memorial in Thursday’s Class 4A sectional opener at Concord High School.
Though happy with his squad’s 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 win over the Crimson Chargers, second-year Warsaw coach Rick Ashmore was quick to keep things in perspective.
“Saying we won 3-0 makes it sound like it was easy, but it was a hard-fought match,” said Ashmore, who notched his 896th career victory, a total that includes wins with Kankakee Valley and St. Joe in Michigan.
“The length of play ... the ball was up for a long time. Both teams were making really good plays. There was a lot of hustle on both sides.”
En route to beating their Northern Lakes Conference rival for the third time this season, the Lady Tigers had to rally from an early seven-point deficit in Game 1, outlast the Crimson Chargers in a second set that featured eight ties, and then put things on ice after Memorial fought back from a 7-0 hole in Game 3.
“This is what I expected it to be,” Ashmore said of the intense postseason battle. “Forget their record, that’s a really solid volleyball team.
“We did a lot of positive things. We got contributions from a lot of different places tonight.”
With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 21-13 and advanced to Saturday’s 11 a.m. sectional semifinal against Goshen, a 3-0 winner over Northridge in Thursday’s first match.
Defending sectional champion Concord and Elkhart Central play in the second semifinal Saturday, with the finals slated for 7 p.m.
Memorial finished the season with an 11-22 record.
The Crimson Chargers scored the first five points in Game 1 and led Warsaw 12-5.
The Lady Tigers battled back and tied the score at 15, 17 and 18 before taking their first lead at 19-18.
In the second set, neither team led by more than four points, and the squads were tied eight times.
Warsaw raced out to a 7-0 advantage in the third game, and then Memorial got within 13-10 before the Lady Tigers called timeout, broke the Crimson Chargers’ momentum and ended their season.
“We got it going and we were able to try a couple different things,” Ashmore said of the way his team built the lead in Game 3. “Kacy (Bragg) did a good job of mixing it up and getting other people involved, and we’re gonna need those people. She was able to move it around so that we had better attacks going.
“Early in the match we weren’t really able to spread the offense apart, but the third set we were able to move the offense around a little bit.”
Warsaw beat semifinal round opponent Goshen 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 in NLC?play and handed Concord its only loss in league play, a five-set thriller on Oct. 5.
The Lady Tigers, who have not faced Elkhart Central this season, are looking for their first sectional title since 2004.
Saturday’s champion will advance to the LaPorte Regional.
WARSAW 3, ELKHART MEMORIAL 0
EM 21 21 16
W 25 25 25
Records: Warsaw 21-13, Memorial 11-22
Other Match: Goshen def. Northridge 25-21, 25-16, 25-12
Saturday Semifinals: Warsaw vs Northridge 11 a.m., Concord vs Elkhart Central 12:30 p.m.
