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SYRACUSE – In the record book, it will show up as a 3-0 Fairfield volleyball win Thursday night at Wawasee, but inside the spectator gymnasium, the gap between the two teams was much, much closer.

In a series that Fairfield has overwhelmingly dominated in recent memory, Wawasee made a statement by not only hanging around, but pushing back at a Fairfield team that looked every bit shellshocked at times. The final scoreline of 25-15, 29-27, 25-19 will feature plenty of earmarks for both programs heading out of Thursday night’s matchup.

“For about 10 years, they haven’t pushed us like this, and we come here thinking that’s what it will be like again,” started Fairfield head coach Carla Herschberger. “When we underestimate people, then that’s how we play. Then it’s hard to get it back together. Nothing clicked for us. It was our mental game tonight. We just weren’t trusting each other, playing as individuals thinking they wouldn’t challenge us.”

With the win, Fairfield has now beaten Wawasee 14 straight times, including the sectional championship last October. Wawasee has to go back to the 2000-01 season to find its last win against the Lady Falcons, a 2-1 victory before the introduction of rally scoring and five-game matches. Lady Warrior head coach Jeff Phillips isn’t one for moral victories, but in a series as lopsided as it has been, he’ll take it.

“The best part about game two was we came out unphased by game one,” Phillips said. “Normally, you lose like that in game one, and against a team like Fairfield, you never have a chance in game two. And that has happened to us against them before.

“In game two, we played cleaner and made less mistakes, and that showed in us being able to hang around,” continued Phillips. “I hate it. I just want the ball to bounce for us just once. It gives me goose bumps thinking, when was the last time we were in that position to make a mistake with a score like that? So, if that’s the case, I like that scenario.”

All three games featured scorelines that had Wawasee either trailing or leading by one as the two teams reached double digits. The closest of the three games was a wild and wholly second game, where an Alli Ousley ace put Wawasee up 23-22, only for Fairfield to score the next two points, then trade off before the Lady Falcons got an ace from Haley Brown and then stood pat as Wawasee committed a passing error to end a tremendously tense 10 minutes of volleyball.

Fairfield had to navigate rough waters in the first and third games before putting together stinging runs to separate from Wawasee. The Lady Warriors led 12-11 in game one before the visitors rattled off 10 straight points, largely built on home-sided errors on its own end. Game three was much closer, where Fairfield held a shaky 19-17 lead before Sierra Smith hammered home her fifth kill to put her team up three, effectively ending it.

The win, however, did not sit particularly well with Herschberger, whose team lost only twice last year and isn’t ready to come back down.

“We are young, only three of my starters are returners,” Herschberger offered. “We are filling in with a lot of kids who only played JV, so we still have some flow to get. But that being said, if we play like we did tonight as the season goes on, we’re going to be on the losing end of these things. We can’t just live off of our name, just because teams before us went to state. This is a new team that needs to set its own identity.”

Brown led Fairfield with 13 kills and added a pair of blocks while Hannah Siegel added more muscle in the middle with six kills and two blocks. Kelsey Schiffli had eight digs and Leah Wimmer hoisted 19 assists.

Wawasee’s numbers had Ousley on the giving end of 16 assists and 13 digs while Aly Anderson had 19 digs. Lydia Katsaropoulos, who suffered a horrible ankle injury at Fairfield last August, made her presence known with six kills and an ace. Paige Hlutke and Kasey Napier combined for 11 more kills.

“Maybe we put a little bug in their ear, maybe they will think about tonight two months from now if they have to deal with us again,” quipped Phillips.

Fairfield (2-0) will look to refine itself with another opponent ready for revenge awaiting in NorthWood next Tuesday. NorthWood was ousted in the sectional by Fairfield, as was Wawasee. The Lady Warriors (1-1) will take its momentum on the road to Elwood for its first appearance in the Elwood Invite Saturday morning.

If the night couldn’t have been more entertaining, the opening JV game between the two clubs literally went the distance. Fairfield won game one, 25-14, then Wawasee claimed game two, 25-22. Game three saw Wawasee take a 14-13 lead, only for Fairfield to muscle up for the final two points to win 15-14.

For Wawasee (1-1), Ashley Beer had 10 digs, Seaquinn Bright had nine digs and three aces and Tia Long tossed in 10 assists and four digs.