Hayden Steger serves during play at the Warsaw Tennis Invite Saturday. The Tigers finished seventh as a team among a field with four state-ranked teams. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – The campus of Warsaw Community High School was busy Saturday as the boys tennis and freshman volleyball teams hosted invitationals. The tennis team had four ranked teams among the lot while the volleyball team had some of the area’s notable programs in the Tiger Den.

Warsaw’s Colton Lind lunges for a shot attempt in No. 2 singles play.

Crown Point The Crown Jewel

Of the four ranked teams among the eight active clubs at the Warsaw Tennis Invite, the lowest-ranked team came out on top. Crown Point, ranked No. 26 in the latest Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association poll, claimed all three singles championships to score 22 team points to outgun No. 25 Fishers, which scored 19 points. Fishers took the one doubles title and lost the two doubles and one singles finals.

Bryce Bonin, Anthony Kendall and Lance Noerenberg were champions for Crown Point. The Fishers duo of Jake Lair and Nic Knoderer won the one doubles title and Munster’s Colin Sharpe and Aleksander Balac won the two doubles title.

No. 19 Munster was third with 17 points, No. 10 South Bend St. Joseph’s was fourth at 15, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and Huntington North tied for fifth with eight points, Warsaw was seventh at six points and Merrillville failed to score a team point to lay claim to eighth.

For the Tigers, Colton Lind went the furthest in the tournament, placing fourth overall in the No. 2 singles bracket. Lind opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Keith Rochefort from Merrillville in the opening round, but lost 6-1, 6-1 to Crown Point’s Kendall and was swept love and love by Munster’s Trey DeLuna in the third-place match.

Andrew Gauger of Warsaw fires a shot in the No. 3 singles bracket.

Andrew Gauger finished sixth in the No. 3 singles grid, picking up his win against Ben Forte of Bishop Luers.

Justin Stout was seventh in the No. 1 singles bracket, taking an 8-3 win over Merrillville’s Ayron Williams in the final match.

Chris Herendeen and David Homme finished sixth overall in the No. 1 doubles pairings, beating Huntington North, 8-1, in their second match.

Hayden Steger and Hudson Snyder also finished sixth overall in the No. 2 doubles pairings, and also beat Huntington North, 8-2, in their second match.

Warsaw will continue into Northern Lakes Conference play Tuesday at Wawasee.

Maygen Bellamy of Warsaw digs a shot from St. Joe during the Warsaw Freshman Volleyball Invite. Warsaw finished as runner-up to Fort Wayne Concordia.

Concordia Flies To Volleyball Title

Fort Wayne Concordia outlasted a very level playing field in Saturday’s Warsaw Freshman Volleyball Invite, ultimately defeating the hosts 25-18, 25-24 to win the title.

Concordia defeated Fort Wayne Carroll, Muncie Central and Elkhart Memorial in Black Pool play to reach the final, culminating with the win over Warsaw to end 4-0 on the day.

Warsaw reached the final from the Orange Pool after defeating Homestead 25-17, 25-13, South Bend St. Joseph’s 25-24, 25-11, and Huntington North 25-17, 25-18.

Stat leaders for the Lady Tigers included Addie Dickerhoff with 51 assists and six aces, Courtney Chookie with 17 kills, 15 digs and two blocks and Rachel Yeager with 12 kills, 10 aces and four blocks.

Meghan Sullivan led the Lady Tigers with 23 digs and Grace Johnson chipped in with 13 kills and three blocks.

Warsaw improves to 14-2-1 on the freshman season and return to action Tuesday at Columbia City. Joining the freshman team will also be the varsity and junior varsity teams from Warsaw to take on the Lady Eagles.

Warsaw’s Grace Johnson (10) celebrates with her team after a point scored against St. Joe.