SOUTH WHITLEY – Tuesday’s tennis match between Whitko and visiting Wawasee had the feel of a sectional contest. Long, seemingly endless matches were the theme on a very hot day as the Warriors would leave with a 5-0 win.

Nic Rose returns a serve during Tuesday’s match with Wawasee. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

Whitko fell 5-0 to Wawasee in the regular season in 2014 then rebounded to eliminate the Warriors in the sectional semi-final. Fierce competition on a few of the courts made it obvious that last year’s matches still motivated this year’s players.

Tempers were flaring the most on the No. 1 doubles court. Make no mistake, there was no poor sportsmanship from either side, but a heated contest between Wawasee’s Tim Conley and Cal Heinisch and Whitko’s Tim Gensch and Nic Rose. Heinisch and Conley would walk away with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory in a match that had a little of everything.

Events in this match alone included, but were not limited to: One player taking a ball to the back during the second set, leaving him in a brief moment of pain. Some questionable in/out calls by both teams. There was even a high-flying water bottle that made a crash landing on the pavement, ricocheting up and hitting a Wawasee fan square in the head.  Yes, it was entertaining to say the least, but it was a contest that Wawasee head coach Vince Rhodes was not impressed with at the beginning.

“To me, our guys didn’t come to play,” Rhodes said of his top doubles team. “They already had it under their belt before they started playing. I think they realized what was happening after they lost the first set. I chewed them out a little bit to get them going. I think there was some head games going on there based on our matches with Whitko from last year.”

While No. 1 doubles started off slow, the same could not be said for No. 2 doubles or singles.

Micah Cokl

The Warriors owned both of those courts with a 6-1, 6-0 win for Nate Perek at No. 2 singles over Austin Hollowell. Evan Krueger and Dylan Staley won by the same score at two doubles over Bill Stump and Micah Cokl.

At No. 3 singles it was Wawasee’s Cameron Brill taking a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win over Cory Hersha.

On the one singles court, there was a lot of tennis being played. Nate Haines and Bailey Platt battled for just over three hours before Haines would finally win 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

Tuesday’s match was the first time this season that Whitko had been able to play with a full compliment of varsity players. That was a victory in itself for head coach Victoria Cornell.

“t was really exciting to have a full team out there tonight,” said Cornell. “We’ll be adding another player, Alex Bechtold, this Thursday. So, our team keeps growing and that’s great to see.”

As for the match as a whole? Cornell was impressed with her team’s performance against a potential sectional opponent.

“It’s extremely important for the guys to get this kind of experience,” Cornell added. “We have a lot of guys that don’t have a lot of experience. So, for them to compete today in some tough matches was a good way for them to gain that experience.”

Whitko will host Triton Thursday night while Wawasee will host Concord.

Tim Conley