Gwyn Bellamy and the Lady Tigers celebrate a big point during their match with Fort Wayne Carroll in Warsaw Tuesday night. (Photos by James Costello)
WARSAW — It had been a couple years since Warsaw had posted a win over an always-competitive Fort Wayne Carroll program.
Hoping to go out on top in the series, senior outside hitter Gwyn Bellamy helped the set the tone in a a high-energy, four-set win over the visiting Chargers, as the hosts handed their guests a 25-23, 32-30, 14-25, 25-17 loss at the Tiger Den Tuesday night.
“That was so fun. I feel so great,” said Bellamy after the win. “I don’t think we’ve beaten them since my freshman year so it was really nice to go out and end with a win.”
“An excellent team. The kids battled. A couple things went against us; we didn’t ease up. We kept grinding,” said Warsaw head coach Rick Ashmore. “We went to different players who wanted the ball in big situations, and we just kept fighting and fighting. It was well-played on both sides.
“There were some phenomenal plays in that match on both sides.”
Bellamy led a balanced Warsaw attack from off the bench with 10 kills and contagious enthusiasm, but she was only part of a varied Tigers attack that saw eight kills from freshman outside hitter Kaylee Weeks, eight more from junior middle hitter Kennedy Lauck and another eight from setter Avery Hales, who showcased some sneaky off-rhythm attacking on the way to the win.
Kayla Weeks attacks through the block of Evaline Bird and Gabrielle Fish Tuesday.
“I feel like all our kills are pretty spread out. It’s just nice having everyone in there, that we can rely on everybody instead of just relying on one person pounding balls,” explained Bellamy.
“It’s hard for other teams to defend us.”
Warsaw jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the first set and never trailed en route to what ultimately became a nip-tuck, 25-23 win. Carroll battled back in a closely-contested second game that saw 15 ties and six lead changes by the competitors, but a hard spike from sophomore Abby Sanner and a pair of attacking errors by the Chargers gave the Tigers the 32-30 win in the extended set, prompting chants of “This is our house!” from the Warsaw student section.
“We were all keyed in. It was kind of hard to go back and forth, but we were able to make the plays we needed to, and, yes, if we made a mistake we just knew we had to come back,” recalled Bellamy of the second set. “We ran out of subs, and I’m just so happy that one of our DSs she ran up and blocked the ball. That was so fun. That was a highlight right there.”
After a back-and-forth start to the third set featuring six ties and a pair trio of lead changes, the Tigers seemed to let off the gas somewhat, and a 12-2 spurt by the visitors keyed what was to become Carroll’s only set win of the night, 25-14. But it was pretty much all Warsaw from there as the guests opened up the fourth set on a 10-3 tear en route to a lopsided, 25-17 win and the match point after two hours of action in the Tiger Den.
“The kids responded. One of the things about coaching kids — you can tell them anything you want, but will they make the corrections? They did tonight,” said Ashmore.
“When we made the run in the fourth set we actually had two freshmen and one sophomore out on the floor. We’re young as it is, but it was nice to see them.”
Avery Hales sets the ball for her teammates.
Hales finished the night with 35 assists in addition to her hitting heroics, while sophomore libero Kylie Smith tallied 26 digs to lead the Warsaw defense. McKenna Hawblitzel served up a pair of aces for Warsaw, which improved to 16-4.
The Tiger JV lost its match, 25-20, 25-16, meanwhile. Madeline Schannep put away six kills, and Katie McKibben finished with five. Sadie Warren passed out seven digs followed by six from Carly Flinn and five from McKibben, while Tessa Graney set 12 assists.
The Warsaw freshmen also lost their match, 25-18, 25-17. Lauren Eastwood managed four kills, and Mallory Mulligan tallied three kills with five assists and nine digs. Delaney Silveus recorded eight digs, and Eastwood finished with six.
The Tigers take on Wawasee in a Northern Lakes Conference senior night match-up on Thursday.
Kennedy Lauck and Avery Hales go up to block at net while Elizabeth Schmidt looks on in back.
