NAPPANEE – The NorthWood volleyball team had defending conference champion Concord on the ropes Thursday night.

The Panthers just could not apply the knockout punch.

A veteran Concord team, despite reeling from a beatdown in game three, regrouped in time to rally past the NorthWood 3-2 in a key Northern Lakes Conference tussle.

Concord claimed a 25-17, 23-25, 15-25, 25-17, 15-9 win in the back-and-forth contest.

The Minutemen, who lost just one starter from a conference and sectional team of a year ago, improves to 7-3 overall and moves to 2-0 in the NLC. NorthWood drops to 10-4 overall and sits at 0-1 in league play.

Concord climbed off the floor in time to dominate the final two sets for the big NLC victory.

“I’m super proud of how we finished tonight,” said fourth-year Concord coach Kelly Chupp, whose team went 28-7 overall and 6-1 in the NLC in 2016. “We’re kind of beat up with some injuries and I knew that it would be tough tonight. It was good to see us fight back the way we did.”

Chupp, whose roster has eight seniors, says that it’s a different mindset now that her team is expected to be a contender.

“It’s just totally different for us this year and new to us,” said Chupp, whose team won the Class 4-A Warsaw Sectional before losing to LaPorte in the regional a year ago. “Winning the NLC and the sectional last year was huge, but we do feel pressure now with so many players back. It’s a totally different mindset that we need to have going into every match.”

Concord, which beat Plymouth 3-1 in its NLC opener, came out on fire early as the guests took a 6-0 lead before a NorthWood timeout. The outstanding duo of Ella Cunningham and Keegan Thursby led the way in the opening set for the Minutemen. After the Panthers came back to take an 11-10 lead, Concord rolled to a win for a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers showed their mettle in game two. The hosts were down 20-17 late before big plays from the trio of Kennedy Wiens, Maddy Payne and Haylee Pennington and a key service ace by Kenzie Moren sparked a rally. With the pivotal game tied at 23-23, Wiens blasted a winner and Pennington then delivered the winner.

NorthWood, which has six seniors of its own, dominated game three by strong serving. Concord had break down after break down in service receive as the hosts took a 2-1 lead. The fourth game was tied at 11-11 before Concord use a key 10-1 scoring edge to retake the momentum and even the match.

The deciding game was close early as Concord led just 6-5. The Minutemen then got big plays from Thursby, Grace Kindy and Cunningham to take an 11-8 lead. Cunningham then had a kill, followed by one from Kindy to make it 13-8. The Minutemen claimed the match on a kill by Kindy.

“When you have an opportunity like we did tonight, you have to finish it,” said NorthWood coach Hilary Laidig. “Our kids want to do it, but we kind of let go. That’s something our team does. We breathe and maybe every point is not as important once we have a lead.

“I definitely felt good going into the fourth game. The pressure was on them. We were just not aggressive enough serving.”

“We have a lot of tough opponents coming up, but these were the NLC champs. We just have to finish.”

NorthWood finished 17-17 overall and went 2-5 in the NLC a year ago.

Concord was coming off a 3-1 loss to New Prairie Monday. The Minutemen have lost to New Prairie  twice and also to Penn.

Chupp noted that standout Kindy was playing on an injured ankle, hurt in practice last week. She also noted that setter Kenady Sullivan was also dealing with an injury.

The Panthers have lost to Penn twice and also to Rochester.

Wiens had a brilliant performance to pace the Panthers. The four-year varsity ace slammed down 16 kills and also led her team with 16 digs. She also had a pair of aces and two blocks.

Pennington also turned in a sensational effort for the hosts with 16 kills and two blocks.

Senior setter Courtney Lengacher had 43 assists to go with 14 digs. Junior libero Whitney Gessinger had 14 digs. Sophomore Maddy Payne and junior Riley Graber each had two blocks.

Seniors Kindy and Cunningham powered the Concord attack with 20 and 16 kills respectively. Cunningham also had five blocks, junior Audrey Staggs four and Kindy two. Cunningham had four aces and junior Keegan Thursby and senior Kenady Sullivan two each. Sullivan had 56 assists, while Thursby had 23 digs, Kindy 21 and senior Sage Iavagnilio 17.

NorthWood won the junior varsity match 25-14, 25-14. Ali Knepp had four kills and 11 digs for the JV Panthers. Alea Minnich had 10 digs and two aces, while Caroline Mullet had 12 assists and two aces. Kendal Miller had two aces and Brelynn Wise a block for the winners.

NorthWood and Concord both return to NLC action Sept. 7. NorthWood plays at Plymouth and Concord hosts Elkhart Memorial.