PLYMOUTH – A rivalry game in the NLC was everything that it normally is as Warsaw’s Lady Tiger volleyball team came to Plymouth and the Lady Pilgrims matched them punch for punch but never quite got over the hump falling 3-0.
Scores of 25-19, 25-20, and 25-16 had points fought for on nearly every serve as the Tigers led at the start but were never able to get any sort of a comfortable lead until late in the third set.
Warsaw looked as if they would make a very tough night of it for Plymouth very early in the first set taking the first two points with the Lady Pilgrims looking a bit out of sorts. From there it all changed.
The Lady Pilgrims forced a Warsaw timeout with Warsaw leading 15-14 and the Lady Tigers rallied but only briefly.
“From then until the middle of that third set we were point for point nearly every time all the way through,” said Hutton. “It was exciting to see us play at that level and not back down. I don’t know if our faces reflected it but our play reflected it.”
Plymouth led at 9-8 in the second set when a timeout gave Warsaw some momentum but once again they were never able to run away from the Lady Pilgrims.
Plymouth grabbed a time out at the end of the set trailing 23-20 but couldn’t hold off Warsaw.
The third set would be decisive as Warsaw began to stretch the gap and ended the night winning by nine in the final frame.
“I thought we played well,” said Hutton. “There were some good things. Their setter (Avery Hales) is ranked number one in the nation and in the third set she really came alive and began controlling the tempo and changing the timing. She did a nice job. All in all I thought we played hard and played well.”
“I thought we started to pick it up there in the middle but I thought they did some nice things in placing the ball in those hard angles,” said Hutton. “They (Warsaw) played well. My girls played aggressively but we just came up short tonight.”
Warsaw is now 16-6 on the year and unbeaten in the NLC. Plymouth moves to 10-8 and are even at 2-2 in NLC play and will be on the road on Monday at Knox.
With three more games left in NLC play and the tournament ahead Hutton likes the progress of his team heading into the home stretch.
“I feel like the kids have bought into what we are doing in the gym and they are working very very hard,” he said. “They’ve got a better volleyball sense, a better volleyball IQ and it shows in some of the things we are doing.”
