NorthWood Sports Wrap: Aug. 19
Volleyball
The NorthWood volleyball team earned a runner-up finish in the Tom Heck Tournament hosted by Penn.
The Panthers won a pair of close matches to go unbeaten in pool play before losing to the hosts 2-0 in the title match.
Penn, which beat NorthWood 3-1 at home on Tuesday night, topped the Panthers 25-14, 25-21 in the finale.
Haylee Pennington had six kills and Kennedy Wiens four in the final for NorthWood. Whitney Gessinger had an ace, while Wiens and Gessinger each had 10 digs. Maddy Payne had three blocks and Pennington two and Courtney Lengacher 17 assists.
NorthWood beat Hammond Noll 25-20, 25-23 in pool play action. Wiens had 10 kills and Pennington six. Wiens had three aces, while Lengacher and Gessinger each had two. Gracie Clark had eight digs and Wiens and Gessinger each added seven. Payne had three blocks and Wiens two and Lengacher 20 assists.
The Panthers edged past Homestead 19-25, 25-18, 17-15. The trio of Wiens, Pennington and Payne led the offense with seven kills each. Wiens and Kenzie Moren each had three aces and Moren and Gessinger led the defense with six digs each. The duo of Wiens and Payne each had two blocks and Lengacher 22 assists.
NorthWood topped Andrean 25-20, 14-25, 15-10. Wiens powered down 11 kills and Payne slammed nine. Lengacher had four aces and 22 assists. Wiens had 13 digs and Moren eight and Payne led the blockers with four.
NorthWood (5-2) plays at Fairfield Tuesday night.
Cross Country
The NorthWood ladies raced their way to a first-place finish in the Elkhart Christian Academy Hokum Karem.
The Panthers placed four of their two-person relay teams in the top seven to claim top honors in the five-team competition.
The duo of Erica Stutsman and Kate Jarvis led the way as they combined to place first.
NorthWood topped runner-up Concord by 3:00. Westview was third with host ECA fourth and Goshen fifth in the team standings.
The NorthWood boys team finished in fifth place among nine teams at the ECA Hokum Karem.
The team of Tyler Evers and Arron Smith led the Panthers as they combined to place 14th overall. The duo of Cameron Hershberger and Daniel Hochstetler led the JV runner as they placed 13th overall.
NorthWood will compete in the Tiger Invitational at Warsaw Tuesday night.
Boys Soccer
The NorthWood boys soccer team made it two shutouts in a row by blanking visiting Angola 4-0.
Sebastian Guillen paced the offense for the winners with two goals.
Micah Pippenger posted his second straight shutout in goal for the Panthers.
NorthWood led 1-0 at halftime before scoring three times in the final hal.
NorthWood (2-0) will open conference play at Northridge on Thursday evening.
Girls Soccer
A strong fist half paved the way to a win for the NorthWood girls soccer team.
The host Panthers knocked in three first-half scores in blanking Bethany Christian 3-0.
Betsy Nunemaker tallied the first goal for the Panthers, off an assist from Savannah Feenstra. Avery Bontrager made it 2-0 when she converted on a penalty kick. Kali Parisi completed the scoring, assisted by Lexi Paris.
NorthWood outshot the Bruins 16-3 and had a 7-1 edge in corner kicks.
Keeper Kira Robinson had three saves for the winners.
NorthWood (2-0) travels to Westview Tuesday night.