DUNLAP – The Warsaw volleyball team may not have been playing for a conference championship Thursday night.

The Tigers, though, put on a performance worthy of a champion.

Warsaw, playing with purpose, passion and aggression, stormed back to defeat host Concord 3-2 in a Northern Lakes Conference thriller.

The Tigers showed the true heart of a champion in rallying for the 25-20, 12-25, 14-25, 25-17, 15-11 victory in the NLC and regular-season finale for both teams in McCuen Gym.

Warsaw, which won the final two games to take the classic clash, improves to 20-13 overall and finishes 5-2 in league play.

The Tiger win over the defending league champion Minutemen gave NorthWood a share of the NLC championship for the first time in 20 years.

Both Concord, which beat NorthWood 3-2, and the Panthers, who beat Warsaw 3-2, finish at 6-1 to share the conference title this fall.

Warsaw simply refused to lose in this one after being dominated in games two and three.

The aggressive Tigers got off the hardwood court at McCiuen, dusted themselves off and roared back to the win.

Senior Lexie Day was absolutly amazing for the winners. The Warsaw star outside hitter said that her team wanted to make a “good memory” at Concord Thursday night since they will return there next week to compete in the Class 4-A sectional hosted by the Minutemen.

Mission accomplished.

Day simply did it all in the final two games to lead the charge back for the Tigers.

The high-flying hitter, who is a high jumping standout, soared to slam down 24 kills on the night. None was bigger than her final swing of the night that produced the match-ending point for the Tigers. She was also everywhere on defense for her team, making several tremendous digs of Concord blasts for key saves late in the match to give her team huge points and big time momentum.

“This win shows us what we can do when we play as a team,” said Day, who slammed down her match-high 24 kills in 51 total attacks. “We came out tonight knowing that the sectional would be here next wee. We wanted to create a good memory here tonight. This should definitely keep our confidence up and help us to know that we are good enough.

“We kind of had the same thing tonight that we have been dealing with all season. We came out strong and won game one and then we backed off. It really helped us to start off strong in that fourth game. It changed the momentum back to us. In that fifth game, I just wanted to do my best on defense to read their hitters and just go for it.”

Warsaw was definitely a case of Jekyll and Hyde in this one.

The Tigers were strong in the opening game as they never trailed. Warsaw pulled away from a slim 17-16 lead down the stretch on big kills from Hanna Leach and Day and a key ace by Emali Grose.

Concord, which won the sectional title at Warsaw a year ago, stormed back to dominate games two and three. The hosts, who have eight seniors, simply crushed the Tigers in the sets to take a seemingly commanding 2-1 lead.

The Tigers, though, had other ideas.

Warsaw, after coach Rick Ashmore had a talk with his starters prior to the fourth set, got a huge performance from Day and star setter Kacy Bragg to even the match. Super southpaw Bragg had a couple of huge kills in the fourth game and Day delivered time and time again. Day ended the fourth game with a block to seal the win.

The fifth and deciding game saw Concord take a quick 2-0 lead before Ashmore called a smart timeout. Day slammed a kill off a Concord blocker to make it 2-1. The final set was tied at 4-4 before Day served five straight points to put her team in control at 9-4. The pivotal stretch saw key kills by Katie Swanson and Kennedy Lauck for the Tigers and an incredible dig by Day to keep a rally going that eventually resulted in a big point for the Tigers.

Warsaw bumped its lead to 10-5 in the final game before the hosts came back. Concord got within 11-10 on a kill by Ella Cunningham before Ashmore took a timeout. Leach crushed a kill to make it 12-10 before a ball handling error by the Tigers made it 12-11. Day then blasted a kill to make it 13-11 and Concord had a ball handling miscue to make it 14-11.

Day, fittingly enough, did the honors with the final swing of the night for match point to end the 1:50 contest.

“Our girls came back and played really, really well the final two games,” said Warsaw coach Rick Ashmore. “They responded really well. We were not aggressive in games two and three. When we are aggressive like the final two games we can play at a high level.

“That’s why down 2-0 in the final game I took that timeout. I saw us being passive. I know these girls have it in them. They put words into action in games four and five tonight. The question has been can we finish? Tonight we finished and it was fun.

“Day was really big for us. She really was going after the ball. This should give us momentum going into the sectional back here next week and you want that. Memorial (Warsaw’s first-round sectional opponent) has improved and their record is not indicative of how good a team they are. We have to be up to the challenge next Thursday when sectional starts.”

Junior Swanson also had a big night at the net for the Tigers. She finished with 14 kills. Senior Leach had nine kills and junior Bragg added five. Junior Peugh led the team with 27 digs, while senior Grose had nine, Freshman Elizabeth Schmidt seven and Bragg six. The foursome of Day, Leach an freshmen Lauck and Betty Barnett each had three blocks and the trio of Peugh, Bragg and Grose each had an ace.

Concord, which went 28-7 overall and 6-1 in the NLC in 2016, drops to 21-10 overall.

Warsaw will face Elkhart Memorial in the Concord Sectional next Thursday at approximately 7 p.m. Concord will play Elkhart Central at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 in a semifinal bye match of the six-team sectional.

Concord won the junior varsity match 15-25, 25-24, 15-7.

Kenzie Martz had 10 kills and Gwyn Bellamy seven for Warsaw. Bellamy had 15 digs and Kylie Prater 13. Katie Schmidt had four aces and McKenna Hawblitzel three.

Warsaw won the freshman match 25-7, 25-13. Tessa Wood had eight kills and Allison Zartman three. Rylee Kaufman had seven digs and Sydney Morel six. Kendra Love had four aces, while Wood, Morel and Emma Spencer each had three.