Warsaw Mauls Elkhart In Concord Opener
By Dalton Tinklenberg
InkFreeNews
DUNLAP – The Warsaw Lady Tigers traveled north Thursday night to Concord for an opening-round sectional battle against the Elkhart Lady Lions on Thursday night. Warsaw was able to control the tempo and win the matchup, 3-0.
The two teams faced off against one another earlier in the season with a much different outcome. In that encounter, the Lady Lions won two of three extremely close sets to emerge victoriously at the Mishawaka tourney.
“The first time we played them, I had three girls that were injured from our starters,” said Warsaw head coach Chandra Hepler. “I think that makes a big difference when you’re able to have some experienced players out on the court. I’m just super proud of the girls because of my 18 that are on the roster, 10 of them have never played in a sectional before. Sometimes, you don’t know what to expect when you come out and you’re not as seasoned as maybe you were last year. I was just really proud of all of them. Everybody got in to play and they came ready to play. I don’t think the fact that it was sectionals they let scare them or bother them at all. We talked a lot about that and what happens when you make mistakes.”
Despite the lopsided final score, Elkhart refused to give up and continuously made runs to close the gap when Warsaw would widen the lead. In the second set of the night, the Lady Tigers held a 20-13 advantage. Elkhart went on a 4-0 run to tighten the score before eight straight points for Warsaw ended things. Then, in the third set, the unthinkable nearly took place. The Lady Tigers dominated throughout the set and raced out to a 24-13 lead. Just one point away from advancing, Warsaw held all the momentum and the crowd felt it. The Lady Lions scored two straight points and suddenly the crowd and bench were rocking. They were able to pull within five points at 24-19 before finally falling to Warsaw.
“We talked a lot,” said Hepler. “Mental toughness is what we really have been focused on for the last half of the season. Once we became an experienced team to realize when we make a mistake sometimes it’s hard for them to shake that mistake off. I think when teams make runs, it’s because we are not forgetting the mistake that just happened and they’re dwelling on it. We spent a lot of time talking about that. I thought they did a really good job tonight even when they made some runs, the girls capitalized when we sided out.”
Leading the way for the Tigers were Melaina Hawblitzel and Kaylee Weeks, each with nine kills, and Alli Heinrich at the top of the heap with 10 kills. Hawblitzel added seven digs and an ace. Kylie Smith had 17 digs and four aces and Avery Hales had 30 assists, nine digs, four aces and three kills.
The Lady Tigers will now face the Northridge Lady Raiders on Saturday. On the surface, that doesn’t appear to be much of a battle for Warsaw. Northridge is just 15-15 and 2-5 in conference play on the year. It will also be the second meeting between the two teams with the first meeting coming in September. That matchup ended with a 3-0 win for the Lady Tigers. Despite all of that, Warsaw knows to overlook no one.
“I think my girls know that even this year with our record, our record is not where it was last year and not where we want it to be,” said Hepler. “But we also realize the amount of experienced teams that we played and how high-level they are, top ten teams in the state.”
Penn won the opening game of the tournament, clubbing Goshen 25-15, 25-12, 25-12. The Kingsmen will take on Concord at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Tigers and Raiders to follow. The winners come back at 7 p.m. for the championship.