LIGONIER — NorthWood swept its way to a quarterfinal victory against Wawasee Thursday, Oct. 15 in the IHSAA Class 3A girls volleyball West Noble Sectional.
The Panthers (16-15) bested the Warriors (14-17) by a 25-20, 25-21, 25-15 score for the right to play in the semifinals against Fairfield (17-13) at noon Saturday, Oct. 17. NorthWood beat the Falcons 3-1 and 3-0 during the 2026 regular season.
“At first maybe we were a little hesitant to see where the game was at,” Panthers coach Hilary Laidig said. “We played better as the (match) went on.”
While there were plenty of contributions all around, Laidig singled out a few players.
“(Sophomore) JaMya Nelson was really good in that last set. (Junior) Emily DeFreitas had a great game.
“She’s somebody that might not always get her number called but does a lot back there.
“Two of our seniors — Kenzie Miller and Abby Schmucker — served really well.”
NorthWood also defeated Wawasee 25-15, 25-22, 25-20 Thursday, Oct. 8 in a Northern Lakes Conference match.
“We played well that night,” Laidig said. “I think tonight was a little better, especially at the end.”
Set one of the sectional featured five ties — the last at 10-10.
The Warriors cut the gap to 24-20 before a Wawasee service error ended the set.
The second set included nine ties — the last at 12-12. The Warriors trailed 23-17 then got to within 24-21. A DeFreitas kill gave the set to the Panthers.
Wawasee led set three by a 4-1 score and the team’s last advantage was at 13-12.
The set included four ties — the last at 13-13.
The match ended with three straight kills by Nelson and a DeFreitas service ace.
“I didn’t start off strong, but then I came on in the third set,” Nelson said. “We’ve been working on tips and shots in practice.
“I really just saw the block tonight and worked my shots. I started off as a right side this season. It was kind of new for me, but being in the middle is very comfortable. I’ve been playing it since middle school.”
NorthWood was paced in kills by senior Ella Branham (16), DeFreitas (6) and sophomore Grace Thompson (6).
“Ella puts the ball away,” Warriors coach Ryan Edgar said of Branham. “We purposely practiced this week trying to take away more from her.”
Leading in digs was Miller (7), junior Nola Nephew (7) and Branham (6).
Branham and senior Addie Davis produced three blocks apiece.
Senior Allie Yoder (21) and Davis (7) had the most assists.
Miller served four aces and DeFreitas three.
Wawasee kill leaders were junior Jadyn Klenke (10), junior Zaiyla Shortill (7) and freshman Laila Rowe (3).
Senior Sarah Cheng (12), Klenke (8), sophomore Audrey Fitzsimmons (5), junior Hadley Allen (3), junior Emily Ringler (3) and junior Scarlett Hardy (3) were best in digs.
Hardy made one block and Allen, Fitzsimmons, Hardy and Klenke each served an ace.
“It seemed like in each set, (the Panthers) had at least one or two runs where they rattled off three to six points on a serve,” Edgar said. “There was a lot of back and forth.
“They just had a couple more big runs than we did.”
In his first year as Wawasee head coach, Edgar saw the team go from four victories in 2025 and 14 in 2026.
“We were pretty young,” Edgar said. “We did not have a senior hitter.
“Our goal is to be as competitive as we can in that big NLC.”