Warsaw’s Evan Miller returns volley during his three singles match against Wawasee’s Cal Heinisch Tuesday night. Miller won in straight sets. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – There was no hiccup in the plan for Warsaw Tuesday night.

Working toward a second straight undefeated boys tennis grid in the Northern Lakes Conference, Warsaw continued its march with a 5-0 win at Wawasee. And much to the delight of Tiger head coach Rick Orban, his team didn’t show any ill effects from the 4-1 loss it suffered just a night ago at home to Penn.

“What I was extremely pleased about was they played their game,” Orban said. “A lot of times you can play down to their level if they are down a bit. And that was what I was afraid of, I didn’t want that to happen. We talked about it on the way here. And I’ll tell you, they came out and played really hard. They played really good tennis.”

Wawasee’s Dylan Houser rallies at the net during the one doubles match.

Warsaw opened the scoring with a big win from three singles Evan Miller, who powered and finessed his way to a 6-1, 6-1 over the pesky Cal Heinisch. Miller, who took care of Heinisch in less than 45 minutes, had the look of an ace, but continues to be a touch slow with his balky right knee.

The singles parade continued for Warsaw with strong play from Kyle Wettschurack at two singles and Sam Rice at one singles. Wettschurack, who teamed with Nic Jansen in doubles play Monday night, showed disciplined play and a smart shot selection in a 6-3, 6-1 over Todd Hauser. Rice was given more of a run from Kyler Love, who kept pace with Rice’s power displays but just couldn’t keep consistent enough to overcome a 6-2, 6-3 outcome.

“We knew they were going to be harder hitters,” began Wawasee head coach Vince Rhodes. “Actually, I was surprised the kids stepped up and played some of the best tennis I have seen them play all the way through the whole varsity.”

Warsaw’s Nikos Schlitt reacts to playing partner Will Petro during the tandem’s win over Wawasee.

Doubles play was just as good for Warsaw, with Will Petro and Nikos Schlitt working well together as a combo at one doubles, beating Chase Myers and Dylan Houser 6-2, 6-1. The joining of Jansen and Chris Herendeen at two doubles looked like a dream in a very comfortable 6-1, 6-3 result against Jake Hutchinson and Luke Smith.

Warsaw, moving to 8-4 on the season and 5-0 in the NLC, will face NorthWood Thursday and then face a tough test with Concord Monday night.

“We can’t look past NorthWood, because as soon as you look past somebody, that’s when you get burned,” Orban said. “Would they like to undefeated again in the regular season? Sure, that’s the conversation. But I just got done saying to them, now NorthWood is next. They are not focused on Concord just yet.”

Wawasee, falling to 6-7 overall and 0-5 in the NLC, is on a different plane of thinking. A date with Memorial is up next, then the Merrillville Invite this weekend and NorthWood Monday before the NLC tournament begins next Wednesday in Plymouth.

“If we can continue to play and get over the hump; we play so many deuce games,” Rhodes said. “The kids are just going back and forth and they lose those last two points. That’s where some of our confidence is lost. It’s concentration. Todd Hauser was a fine example. Once he got it into his mind that he lost a game, I think a lot of the NLC opponents have overwhelmed them. We have played a lot of these other schools tough, the scores just don’t show it.”

In JV net games, Warsaw won all eight of the scored matches.

Ryan Wettschurack won 6-0, 6-1 against Nate Perek, Andrew Gauger claimed an 8-2 win over Cameron Brill, David Homme won 8-1 opposite Trevor Haessig and Chris Strichter shut out Kevin Carpenter 8-0.

In doubles play, Justin Stout and Cole Baker won 6-2, 6-1 against Brayton Fretz and Matt Connett while Hudson Snyder and Tim Roth escaped 8-6 against Tyler Rhodes and Leonard Kline. Caleb DeBoest and Drew McCollom rolled 8-1 versus Nate Haines and Chase Jones and Wesley Shyler and Keeton Bartol swept past Owen Donahoe and Austin Kline 8-0.