VERSAILLES — It may have been the Tippecanoe girls volleyball team’s first regular season loss since losing to Bellbrook on Sept. 10, 2022.

But, a 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 loss to a strong Versailles team Saturday could well be the best preparation they could have had for the postseason.

Tipp, 21-1 and the top seed, will begin play in the Fairborn D-III sectional at 1 p.m. Saturday against 16 seed West Carrollton.

“This will be a match to use in preparation to the tournament,” Tippecanoe coach Howard Garcia said. “In the end, a very good regular season and much to be proud of.”

And the Red Devils were not far off in the first two sets, losing both by 25-21 scores.

“Played back-and-forth in the first two sets, but could not close either one by not being able to convert on the free balls,” Garcia said.

The third set was a little different story.

“Third set, we dug a hole due to many hitting errors (11 total) and could not recover,” Garcia said. “Still, the team fought all the way to the end.”

Savannah Clawson had 11 kills and eight digs and Emily Aselage had five kills, two blocks and 10 digs.

Lexi Luginbuhl added three blocks.

Jenna Krimm had 11 assists and eight digs, Bri Morris dished out 14 assists and Faith Siefring led the defense with 14 digs.