Garrett went 4-0, including a win over Wawasee in the championship, to collect the hardware at Saturday’s Wawasee Volleyball Invite. Photo courtesy Garrett Athletic Twitter

Garrett Bests Wawasee For Title

Wawasee felt railroaded after falling in the championship game of its home Wawasee Volleyball Invitational on Saturday.

The Lady Warriors stood undefeated after beating Elkhart Christian, Whitko and Fort Wayne Blackhawk in pool play, the Blackhawk victory 25-17, 27-25. In the final, Wawasee met Garrett, which the Railroaders had to outlast Wabash 25-15, 26-28, 15-8 in its first match, then beat Culver Academy and Columbia City to also finish 3-0 in pool play.

Garrett then backed up its pool victories with a 25-12, 25-16 finish of Wawasee in the championship.

Wabash finished third, beating Blackhawk 26-24, 25-20, with Columbia City over Whitko for fifth, and ECA over Culver Academy for seventh.

All-Tournament Team included Logan Smith, Morgan Ostrowski and Emma Hirchak of Garrett, Leslie Vazquez of Wawasee, Cara Creese of Blackhawk and Morgan Howard of Whitko.

Stat leaders for Wawasee (12-6) included Amanda Allen with 54 assists, 20 digs and seven aces, Emma Dippon with 22 kills, Vazquez with 20 kills and five blocks, Kai Jamora and Bailey Mayhew with 19 digs, Elizabeth Miller with seven aces and Dylan Konieczny with 16 kills.

Valley Drops Two Of Three In Valley Quad

In the annual quad at Valley, the hosts beat Bremen in two games, but fell to North Judson in two and Carroll in three.

Valley beat Bremen 25-15, 25-8, lost to North Judson 25-22, 25-20, and lost to Carroll 25-23, 22-25, 9-15.

Stat leaders for Valley (8-6) included Brayden Baney with 53 digs, Hannah Engstrand with 82 assists and Bree Sheetz with 21 kills. Delaney Wagoner was credited with 19 kills and 23 digs in the Bremen and Judson contests.

Grace 3, Huntington 1

Grace’s volleyball team maintained its undefeated season with a 3-1 win at Huntington on Saturday.

The Lady Lancers (5-0, 5-0 Crossroads League) have only dropped two sets this season and have not been taken to a fifth set.

Grace shared the wealth during Saturday’s win as no player reached double digits in kills. Ten different players recorded a kill for Grace, however, led by nine kills from Katie Swanson and eight apiece from Paige Eakright and Makaela Lochmueller.

Eakright had eight kills and two digs against her former team after playing three seasons for the Foresters.

Swanson helped Grace start well by picking up the team’s first two kills. An ace from Emily Sharp and a kill by Anna Frey put the Lady Lancers ahead 6-1.

The Foresters never found their footing as Grace enjoyed a 25-15 rout.

The second set was a roller coaster. The score was level at 11, but Huntington ripped off seven straight to seize control.

The Foresters were on the verge of winning easily, holding a 24-18 lead. But Grace incredibly held off six straight set points to tie the score 24-24. Cassadi Colbert and Makayla Bell each had a kill and a block during Grace’s spurt.

But the Foresters recovered, winning the next two rallies to win 26-24.

Grace had its most efficient offensive set during the third game, producing 13 kills on a .290 percentage to win 25-22.

In the fourth set, Grace used a 9-0 run midway into the set to grab a commanding 18-9 advantage. The Lady Lancers cruised to a seven-point win to secure the match.

Gabbey Harrington produced a strong statline with 38 assists, 4 kills, 4 block assists and 6 digs. Gina Novotny and Julia Nagy tied for the team lead with 10 digs, and both players also had two aces.

Sharp and Brittany Baize had identical numbers with seven digs and one ace, and Jadyn Block notched three kills off the bench.

The Lady Lancers have a challenging match on Wednesday, traveling to face the defending national champions No. 1 Marian.