NorthWood volleyball repeats as regional champion

There were no major surprises in the Class 3A volleyball regional at NorthWood High School Saturday.

The host Panthers made sure of that.

NorthWood, ranked No. 5, rolled to its second straight regional title in convincing fashion with a pair of impressive victories.

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The Red Slam beat Hammond Bishop Noll 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14 in the finale Saturday night to win the program's second straight and fifth overall regional championship. NorthWood (32-4) advances to play Bellmont (33-2) in the Class 3A North Semistate on Saturday at Huntington North High School at approximately 2:30 p.m. That match will follow the Class 1A semistate at 1 p.m. pitting Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian versus Southwood.

Bellmont beat Benton Central 3-0 Saturday night in the Norwell Regional finale. NorthWood lost 3-0 to Bellmont in the semistate in 2022. The Panthers also lost 3-1 to Bellmont back on Sept. 16.

"This is pretty emotional," said veteran NorthWood coach Hilary Laidig by phone Saturday night of the regional repeat performance of her talented team. "The girls have really put in a lot of hard work in the last couple of weeks and now they get to see the fruits of their labor.

NorthWood, now 32-4, beat Noll 2-0 during a regular season tournament. Saturday night was no different for the Panthers, feeling fine at home in The Pit.

"I thought that we really came out aggressive tonight," Laidig noted of winning a pair of close sets to open the match. "Noll played well defensively though and frustrated us. I thought that in the fourth set we were able to wear them down though."

"I could tell that our girls were frustrated with Noll's defense, but this was a regional final. It was good for us."

"Overall, I thought that we did well today. Claire Payne really stepped up big time for us. She was the one for us who was finding the floor tonight and we had some big runs with her on the court. This team is just so fun because of all the hitters that we do have.

"I also thought that Jessie (Price) had an amazing day for us at her libero position."

Claire Payne, a junior middle, dominated play Saturday night to pace the Panthers. Payne pounded down 21 kills to go with a team-high six blocks at the net for the champions.

Karis Bennett also turned in a strong effort with 15 kills and 24 digs in the title match. Tatum Evers had 19 digs, Sophia Barber 13 and Emery Porter 11 in the finale. Anna Roeder had 29 assists and Porter 20. Libero Jessie Price led the defense with 25 digs.

Noll finished at 28-9.

NorthWood opened regional action Saturday by downing Culver Academy 25-17, 25-21, 25-19.

Sophia Barber turned in a big match with 10 kills, 10 digs and three aces for the Panthers. Claire Payne paced a balanced offensive attack with 13 kills. Karis Bennett added nine kills to go with 19 digs. Jessie Price had 19 digs, while Emery Porter had 14 digs and 17 assists. Tatum Evers contributed 11 digs and Anna Roeder had 20 assists for the Panthers.

Marian sidelined in semifinals

A strong postseason push for Marian came to an end in the semifinals at NorthWood Saturday afternoon.

Hammond Noll rallied to top the resilient Knights 24-26, 25-17, 25-21, 25-15 to advance to the title match.

Marian, which finished at 18-17, was making its first regional appearance since 2017. The Knights rallied from a seven-point deficit to take set one, but could not sustain it versus Noll, which they had lost to 2-1 in a regular-season tournament.

"I want to express my immense pride in the team's incredible fight and determination today," said first-year Marian coach Alisha Fransted via text Saturday afternoon. "We came back to take the first set after trailing by seven points. Love the never give in attitude.

"However, we faced an outstanding outside hitter in Winton, who displayed remarkable skill and adaptability. We threw everything at her, but she adjusted and continued to crush the ball front row/back row.

"As a young team, with the impending loss of four seniors, our future is full of promise. This experience will fuel our hunger to come back stronger next year and make another run. Our journey is far from over and I'm excited to see the heights we can reach in the future."

Senior standout Abby Hester turned in an outstanding effort in her final high school match. The outside hitter and first-team All-NIC selection led the Knights with 16 kills, 20 digs and two aces.

Junior Brynn Zielinski had 10 kills and two blocks and junior setter Anna Desmaris 35 assists, 11 digs and five aces. Junior libero Katie Milligan had 15 digs and freshman libero Jenna VanBruaene 28 digs.

Junior Zarich Winton led the way for Noll in the victory. The 6-0 hitter entered play Saturday with a team-high 348 kills on the season.

Noll improved to 28-8 with the semifinal win.

Marian will lose seniors Hester, Layla Colcord, Mackenzie Ornat and Norah Britzke.

Other area action

LaPorte flipped the script on Warsaw this time around.

The host Slicers beat the Tigers 3-1 in Class 4A regional semifinal play Saturday. LaPorte had lost 3-0 to Warsaw in the regional a year ago and also by a 2-1 count earlier this season.

No. 9 Warsaw won the first set 25-20 before the No. 12 Slicers posted wins of 25-18, 25-21, 25-22 to advance to the regional final to face Crown Point. Crown Point beat Munster 3-2 in the first semifinal.

LaPorte, which entered play Saturday with losses in just 11 total sets this season, improved to 31-4. The Slicers were in the regional for the fifth straight year.

The Slicers earned a 3-0 win over Crown Point in the finale Saturday night. LaPorte (32-4) advances to play Hamilton Southeastern in the Class 4A North Semistate on Saturday at Frankfort High School at approximately 5:30 p.m. (ET). That match follows the Class 2A semistate match at 4 p.m. between Pioneer and Muncie Burris.

Hamilton Southeastern beat Homestead 3-2 in the regional final at Homestead Saturday night.

LaPorte, which beat conference foe Crown Point for the third time this season, wins the program's seventh regional crown overall and first since 2016.

Warsaw, which won the Northern Lakes Conference title, finished at 23-9.

Michigan City Marquette saw its season end with a 3-0 loss to Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian in the semifinals of the Class 1A Culver Regional.

No. 3 Blackhawk, the defending state champion, topped the No. 9 Blazers 25-16, 25-22, 25-10. Blackhawk advanced to play Tri-County in the regional finale Saturday night.

Marquette, which lost to Kouts in the regional semifinals in 2022, finishes at 22-11 with a roster with no seniors on it.

South Central saw its season end in upsetting fashion. Pioneer handed the No. 3 Satellites their first loss of the season in a semifinal match of the Class 2A Rochester Regional.

Pioneer, which had lost 3-2 to South Central during the season, won 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 to advance. Churubusco beat Illiana Christian 3-0 in the other semifinal.

South Central, which had lost just a total of 10 sets all season entering regional play, lost in the regional finale a year ago.

The Satellites finished at 32-1, while Pioneer improved to 23-13.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: NorthWood volleyball team wins Class 3A regional title Saturday