Volleyball Results: Aug. 24
WARSAW REPEATS AT KOKOMO INVITE
A year after barnstorming the Kokomo Invite, Warsaw was up to its old tricks Saturday, sweeping the competition to repeat as tournament champions.
Warsaw took care of all four of its wins in straight sets, first beating Kokomo 25-20, 25-14, then Frankfort 25-12, 25-9 and Lafayette Harrison 25-14, 25-16. In the final against Muncie Central, the Tigers held on for a 25-22, 25-17 title tout.
Avery Hales had a huge day for the Tigers, registering 26 assists, 20 digs, 11 kills, eight aces and seven blocks in an all-around effort. Betty Barnett had 38 kills and five blocks, Kaylee Weeks had 19 kills and three digs, Kennedy Lauck had 13 kills and five blocks, Gwyn Bellamy added 12 kills and seven digs and Kylie Smith added 25 digs and five assists among a full day from the Tigers.
Warsaw (5-0) will host Homestead Monday evening.
PANTHERS SPLIT AT PENN TOURNEY
NorthWood took on some heavy hitters at the Penn Tourney, and split its two games.
After taking on three state-ranked teams to start the week, NorthWood saw two more in the tournament. After losing to Homestead 25-12, 21-25, 15-17, NorthWood came back to beat Lake Central 25-15, 25-19. Against Class 2-A No. 9 Andrean, NorthWood came out on top 25-21, 25-14, and in a rematch against Class 4-A No. 11 Penn, the Kingsmen again came out on top 25-22, 25-14. Penn beat NorthWood earlier in the week at The Palace in three competitive games.
Maddy Payne led the Panthers with 33 kills and 10 blocks, Caroline Mullet had 75 assists and 36 digs, Alea Minnich added over a dozen kills and Kendal Miller offered over two dozen digs.
NorthWood (4-3) visits rival Fairfield Tuesday night.
WAWASEE DEFENDS JV TITLE
Wawasee swept its four games to win the Wawasee JV Invite for the second straight year.
Wawasee knocked off Lakeland, South Bend Washington, Manchester and Bethany Christian to claim the home hardware.
Stat leaders for Wawasee’s games included Delaney Hare with 19 aces and 16 digs, Amanda Allen with 26 assists, Talia Kuhn with 13 digs and 11 aces, Clara Kerlin with 13 kills, Katelyn Nieman with 12 kills and Laney Gross with 13 assists.
Wawasee (6-0) takes on Lakeland Monday.
VALLEY JV 1-2 AT PLYMOUTH
Tippy earned a win at the Plymouth JV Tourney.
The Vikes picked up a 16-25, 25-23, 15-14 thrill against Elkhart for its lone win in game two. In the sandwich rounds of the pool, Valley lost to NorthWood 25-13, 25-11, and to Northridge 25-19, 25-17.
Valley sits at 2-4 on the season, with its next action Tuesday at Winamac.
IU KOKOMO 3, GRACE 0
INDIANA TECH 3, GRACE 0
One day after starting the season with two sweeps, Grace’s volleyball team was unable to produce similar results on Saturday.
The Lady Lancers lost twice by a 3-0 score at the season-opening Lancer Classic, losing to IU Kokomo and Indiana Tech.
Grace’s season kicked off on Friday with a pair of 3-0 victories against Governors State and Robert Morris.
Grace and IU Kokomo battled tightly in the first set on Saturday. The Cougars managed to stay in front for the majority of the set, although the lead was never more than three.
The Lady Lancers tied the score late 23-23 after back-to-back kills from Makayla Bell and Caroline Mayer. But the Cougars won the next two points to escape with a 25-23 win.
In the second set, Grace fell behind by five at 16-11 and never rallied. Nine attacking errors by Grace handed IUK a 25-15 win.
The third set saw Grace fall into another hole as IUK opened up a 19-15 edge. The Lady Lancers then turned to freshman Anna Frey, who had four kills during a 4-1 spurt.
Grace pulled to within 23-22 after a well-placed attack from Katie Swanson. But the Cougars cliched the match by winning the next two points thanks to a block and a kill.
Frey led all players with 14 kills to go along with 6 digs, 2 aces and 2 block assists. Gina Novotny had a match-best 21 digs, Caroline Mayer had seven kills and seven digs, Alexa Hill handed out 33 assists, and Corynne Aelker had five kills on four attempts.
In the final match of the tournament, Indiana Tech muted Grace’s offense. The Lady Lancers had 11 attacking errors in the first game, and the Warriors racked up five blocks in a 25-15 win.
The second set was hotly contested. Grace seemed on its way to another defeat, facing a 23-19 deficit. But a well-placed timeout by head coach Katie Van Hofwegen changed momentum.
Grace scored four straight points thanks to kills by Makaela Lochmueller and Gabbey Harrington, and a kill by Deborah Michalski tied the game at 24-24.
But the Warriors again found an answer, producing a kill on back-to-back plays to win 26-24.
Indiana Tech led for the entirety of the third set. The Warriors had 20 kills at a .341 percentage in the game to end the match 25-19.
Lochmueller had eight kills to lead Grace’s offense, and Frey tallied seven kills and four digs.
Hill finished with 33 assists and seven digs, Novotny had 16 digs, Emily Sharp chipped in nine digs, and Mayer added six kills and seven digs.
Frey was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of her first collegiate weekend.
The Lady Lancers will play in another tournament next weekend at the Trinity International Invitational.
WAWASEE, EDGEWOOD COMPETE AT EDGEWOOD TOURNEY
The Wawasee eighth grade team started off the day dropping a close match to a very talented Edgewood team in three sets 25-23, 12-25, 12-15 before defeating Lincoln in consecutive sets 25-20, 25-20. Wawasee then dropped a match in two sets to Maple Creek before coming from behind to defeat Wabash in three sets 21-25, 25-21.15-6. The Wawasee ladies are next in action on Monday evening at Indian Springs.
Edgewood saw its seventh grade team go 2-2 and eighth grade team finish 3-1. Edgewood beat Wawasee (25-23, 16-25, 15-11) and Wabash (25-14, 25-20) but lost to Lincoln and Maple Creek in straight sets. The eighth grade hosts beat Wawasee in three then Wabash and Lincoln in two before losing to Maple Creek 25-14, 25-12.