Warsaw’s Sydney Hartman will try and help the host Tigers win a 14th straight sectional championship this week. Warsaw plays Columbia City Wednesday in the opener (File photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – The Warsaw girls tennis team will not have to wait at all to try and avenge a regular-season loss to Columbia City.

The Tigers, who have won 14 straight sectional championships, drew the Eagles in the tourney opener set at Warsaw on Wednesday.

Warsaw dropped a 3-2 final to the Eagles back on April 16 in just the second match of the season. This time the Tigers will feature a much different lineup than the first meeting.

“Yes we should win the sectional again,” said Warsaw coach Rick Orban. “That’s the reality of it. But we will have to take it from Columbia City. I’m sure that they will come in here thinking that they can beat us again.”

“The thing is that we are a totally different team now than the one that lost to them in April. We have a different lineup and our kids have a lot of confidence and a lot of belief in themselves right now.”

Warsaw will feature a much different lineup come Wednesday. The first time that the Tigers played Columbia City the singles lineup was Colette Smith, Liza Lewis and Shelby Roberts at No. 1 through No. 3 respectively. Freshman Lewis is now at No. 1 with freshman Smith at No. 2 and freshman Ella Knight at No. 3. The doubles lineup back in April had Knight and Athena Schlitt at No. 1 and Camille Kerlin and Sydney Hartman at No. 2. The current doubles lineup has senior Kerlin and freshman Hannah Rice at No. 1 and senior Hartman and sophomore Schlitt at No. 2.

Oban’s team, which is 6-7 versus a very tough schedule, is also on a roll right now. The Tigers had both Smith and Knight win individual championships on Friday at the conclusion of the three-day Northern Lakes Conference Tournament in which the team placed second overall.

“We have already talked about the sectional,” said Orban. “We did that Friday night on the bus ride home from Plymouth. We will take Monday off and then have a good hard practice on Tuesday and we will be ready to go.”

The semifinal matches at Warsaw Thursday will pit Tippecanoe Valley versus Whitko and Wawasee versus the winner of the Warsaw-Columbia City match. The championship match is Friday. Matches at WCHS all three days are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Warsaw did beat NLC foe Wawasee 5-0 during the regular season. The Warriors are 2-10. Senior Jada Antonides leads Wawasee at No. 1 singles. The Tigers did not play Whitko or Tippecanoe Valley during the regular season.

Warsaw, which has won 24 sectional titles overall, beat Columbia City 4-1 in the sectional final a year ago.

Wawasee’s last sectional title came in 2000, while Columbia City last won a sectional in 1981. Tippecanoe Valley and Whitko have never won a sectional title.

The winner of the Warsaw Sectional advances to the Culver Academies Regional on May 25 to play the winner of the Bremen Sectional in one semifinals. The other semifinal will pit the champion of the Culver Academies Sectional versus the winner of the Peru Sectional. The regional final will be played May 26 at the Academies.

Triton No. 1 singles player Kaelyn Mason will be a big key as the Trojans look to claim a sectional title at Bremen.

Triton, which is coached by Al Peckham, will also head into sectional play at Bremen with a huge dose of momentum. The Trojans won the Northern State Conference Tournament title Saturday at Bremen.

Triton will open sectional play at Bremen Wednesday versus NSC foe LaVille. The Thursday semifinals will pit Bremen versus Plymouth and Glenn versus the winner of the Triton-LaVille match. The championship match is Friday. All matches are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. at the DeSantis Courts at Sunnyside Park in Bremen.

The Trojans, who ended up sharing the overall NSC title with Bremen, are 12-1 on the season with just an NSC loss to Bremen.

Triton got championship performances in the league tourney from senior Kaelyn Mason at No. 1 singles and the sister duo of senior Kylie and freshman Kolbie Mason at No. 1 doubles.  Junior Shayla May was second at No. 2 singles in the tourney and sophomore Quinn Downing and freshman Emma Ross were second at No. 2 doubles. Freshman Hannah Wanemacher placed third at No. 3 singles.

Host Bremen beat Triton 4-1 in the sectional finals last year. Prior to that, Plymouth had won 13 straight sectional titles.

Triton’s last girls tennis sectional championship game in 2004. The Trojans have won four sectional titles overall. Plymouth owns 29 sectional crowns, Bremen 10 and LaVille one.

Jada Antonides will lead Wawasee into sectional play. The Warriors drew a bye and will play in the semifinals at Warsaw on Thursday.