Indiana high school volleyball: NorthWood falls to nemesis Bellmont
The NorthWood volleyball team believed it was good enough to make program history Saturday night by winning its first semistate championship.
The Red Slam, unfortunately, had to face postseason nemesis Bellmont once again.
The No. 4 Braves sidelined the No. 8 Panthers 3-0 in the Class 3A North Semistate matchup at Plymouth High School.
The win sends Bellmont, now 30-6, into the Class 3A state title tilt versus No. 1 Providence next Saturday evening at Ball State University. Bellmont was state runner-up a year ago.
NorthWood, which has lost to Bellmont in the postseason each of the last four seasons, finishes another remarkable season at 28-7.
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The Red Slam dropped a pair of close sets to open the match 25-20 and 25-22. The Braves, led by star hitter Delaney Lawson, then finished off the semistate title with a 25-10 win in the third set.
Bellmont had defeated NorthWood 26-24, 26-24, 26-24 back on Sept. 17 in a match played at Angola High School. The Braves beat the Panthers 3-0 in the regional final in 2021.
"We had a good plan tonight and had some moments," said NorthWood coach Hilary Laidig by phone Saturday night following the match. "I just thought that we left some kills on the floor tonight.
"Bellmont is really tough. They have a great coach and talented kids. No. 9 (Delaney Lawson) had a night for them. We could not get points and get her off the floor and she just kept hitting the ball. Bellmont just hits a different gear in the postseason."
Laidid, in her 14th season, saw her team win the program's first regional title since 2010.
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The senior class of Macy Lengacher, Lauren Keck, Caitlyn Glick and Aaliyah Bonner combined to go 114-25 with four sectional championships.
"It was an unbelievable run," Laidig said of the past four seasons. "It was pretty special, especially to win our first regional since 2010 and to do it at home. These four seniors were just so consistent."
The Panthers will really miss Lengacher. The senior libero, who was the heart and soul of the program, finished her career with a program record 1,843 digs. She also had two aces Saturday night to give her a record 210 for her career, surpassing the 209 of former star Kaci Heeter. Lengacher, who suffered an ACL injury on the first day of basketball season her junior year, will play volleyball at Indiana State next year.
"I really have not had a chance to process it yet, but it definitely hurts to think about not having Macy next season," Laidig said. "We will miss her. We will miss her smile and miss her as a leader. But what an amazing four years she had for us."
Lengacher had 18 digs and two aces in the loss Saturday evening. Junior Emery Porter had eight digs and 23 assists.
Junior Karis Bennett paced the offense with nine kills. Sophomores Claire Payne and Sophia Barber had six and four kills respectively. Barber also had seven digs.
Delaney Lawson, a 6-1 junior outside hitter, powered the offense for the Braves in the victory.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA volleyball: NorthWood lost in the semistate matchup Saturday
