ST. JOHN | In an end-of-the season conference showdown, neither Lake Central nor Valparaiso wanted to lose on Tuesday night.
The Times No. 6 Indians and No. 3 Vikings fought tooth and nail through five sets until Lake Central prevailed 20-25, 7-25, 25-21, 25-22, 16-14 in the Duneland Athletic Conference match.
"I am proud of what this team accomplished," Lake Central coach Tina Tinberg said. "They never give up and they always fight to the end."
The fifth set went point for point as neither team wanted to succumb as Lake Central pulled out the two-point victory.
Victoria Gardenhire pounded a kill out of the middle to make it 12-11 in the fifth set, then Brooke Renner added a kill and a tip kill to make it 15-14 in favor of L.C. before a net violation ended the match.
"Our M.O. is that this team is relentless," Tinberg said. "They fight to the end."
It looked like Valparaiso would control the match, jumping out to a two set lead, wiping out the Indians 25-7 in the second set.
"They took control of the second set," Tinberg said. "But as a coach, I wasn't going to let them lay down and let it happen. We had to rejuvenate them.
"We were able to get into a rhythm and found some chemistry."
Lake Central finishes the regular season at Penn on Saturday, while Valpo ends with Bishop Noll tonight before sectionals begin next week.
"We had some unfortunate things happen tonight and we were not on top of our game," Valpo coach Katie Lenard said. "We see the things we need to work on and may have to make some switches."
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