Memorial Answers Challenge To Top Tigers
MISHAWAKA – The Warsaw volleyball team challenged Elkhart Memorial Saturday.
The Crimson Chargers once again answered a challenge in postseason play.
Nothing new there.
Memorial, whose trademark has become postseason success and championships, downed the Tigers by a 3-0 final in a thrilling semifinal of the Class 4-A Penn Sectional.
Coach Jacquie Rost’s team won all the big points at the pivotal moments to top Warsaw 28-26, 27-25, 25-20 in a stellar clash of conference rivals.
Memorial, by virtue of its third win this season over the Tigers, advances to the sectional championship tilt Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Crimson Chargers, now 26-9, will face host Penn in the title match. The Kingsmen improved to 19-15 on the season by defeating Northridge 26-24, 26-24, 25-27, 26-24 in the second semifinal on Saturday.
Warsaw, which was seeking its first sectional title since 2004, finishes another stellar season at 23-8.
It was the little things that proved costly to the Tigers in trying to upset the No. 10 Crimson Chargers, who advanced to the semistate a year ago.
It came down to serving and passing, just like Warsaw coach Mike Howard thought it would.
“We wanted to do three things today, play with pace, out serve them and play defense in system,” said Howard. “We executed one of those three things. We played fast. But we missed key serves, especially in that first set. And we were out of position defensively.”
“It came down to serving and passing and we did not serve well. That is a surprise to me. It’s just very frustrating that we did not execute what we wanted to do, what we had worked on all week.”
Warsaw, which lost 2-0 to Memorial in the Mishawaka Invite on Aug. 29 and 3-1 at home in the NLC match on Sept. 1, came out strong. The Tigers had an 11-5 lead in the opening set. Warsaw was up 24-22 with a chance to close out the Chargers, but Memorial scored three straight points to lead 25-24. The Tigers got kills from Lexie Day and Lina Mayer to regain a 26-25 edge, but could not close the door again. Senior Bailey Brouwer delivered a huge kill for Memorial and the Tigers made a pair of hitting errors to drop a gut-wrenching first set.
“That first set was huge and an important piece to the match,” Howard said. “To have the momentum like we did and then lose is tough. If we win that first set, it gives us some breathing room.”
Memorial, with seven seniors, responded early in set two. The Chargers led 5-1 and 12-7 to start the second set. The pivotal game was then tied at 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25. Memorial got the win and a 2-0 lead as Darien Mowery and Brouwer delivered kills.
“You have to still win three sets, but it would have been a lot better up 2-0 than down 2-0,” noted Howard. “It’s hard not to expect players to lose faith after losing two tough sets like we did. We just didn’t make any energy plays at the end of the first or second sets.”
Memorial, which has won seven of the last eight sectionals they have played in, rolled to an 18-8 lead in the final set. The Tigers showed their heart by rallying within 22-17. The Chargers took the 85-minute match when Kayona Malone hit a kill off a Tiger block for match point.
“Memorial just has a champion’s mindset,” said Howard. “They have that in everything that their program does.”
The postseason is what the Chargers live for, according to Rost.
“For us, other than winning the NLC, none of the regular season matters,” said Rost, who has taken Memorial to the State Finals four times (including a pair of runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2009). “This is the premiere. Our girls have an expectation to win. To their credit, they did not panic in the first set. We have been down before and we just focused on technique and strategy then.
“I was pleased with how we were able to adjust and sustain things. We had a plan and our girls executed it. This team has been through ups and downs this year with the injuries that we’ve had. Individuals have found their roles on the team and have become comfortable with them. All of that has brought us where we need to be now and we’re fortunate that we are healthy now.”
“We served on target today and we were in system more than they were. That’s a tribute to our passing.”
Warsaw will lose an outstanding senior class of Blake McGarvey, Peyton Adamiec, Mayer, Haley Peterson, Courtney Steffensmeier and Jordyn Lindeman.
“It’s going to be emotional in that locker room,” stated Howard. “It’s a great group of girls. These seniors have meant a lot to this program and have done some wonderful things. It’s sad not to be able to get the win today that all of us desperately wanted.”
Senior star Mayer capped her outstanding year with another big effort. Mayer had 16 kills to with 12 digs, two aces and a block to lead the way for Warsaw.
Peterson had seven kills and two aces. Day had seven kills and a block. Lindeman had six kills and two blocks. Cassie Hoag finished with 31 assists and 12 digs. Adamiec had 19 digs and an ace.
Senior middle Mowery, who missed 14 matches due to a high ankle sprain, led Memorial with 10 kills. Mowery had just returned last Saturday to play sparingly in the Carmel Invitational before being a big force for the Chargers Tuesday night in their 3-0 sectional-opening win over Concord.
“It just felt right for us with Darrian back,” Rost said of her standout. “What she does is complete our team. And she is a big, physical presence for us.”
Bailey Brouwer had eight kills, while Christa Knapp and Autumn Taylor each had seven for the well-balanced Memorial offense.
The trio of Krystal Grubb, Alexis Wilson and Taylor led the serving edge for the winners with two aces each. Grubb racked up 35 assists.
Kaylin Szucs, Memorial’s outstanding libero, had 15 digs. The senior suffered a knee injury early in the year, but has been a huge key all year for the gritty Chargers.