Tigers Stay Focused To Win Fourth Straight [VIDEO]
WARSAW – It wasn’t ideal and the muttering was evident. But Friday was a chance for a championship and Warsaw seized the opportunity to capture yet another title and did so, beating Wawasee 5-0 in the finals of the Warsaw Boys Tennis Sectional.
Temps dipping into the 50s and a wind that whipped and swirled across the tennis complex at WCHS left the 14 tennis players in action with any guess as to where and how the ball may bound. A vast majority of tennis programs don’t keep accurate stats on double faults and serve efficiency, and the records wouldn’t have looked championship-esque from either side.
Wawasee biggest problem in physical performance was its first serve, from top to bottom. Unable to get its power first in, a watered down second serve suited Warsaw’s power returns. Most evident in taking advantage was No. 1 Chris Herendeen, who hammered Nate Haines’ second offerings for points in a swift 6-1, 6-2 final.
Both Wawasee doubles teams struggled mightily with unforced errors, leaving the No. 2 doubles pair of Spencer Britton and Hudson Snyder to roll to a 6-2, 6-3 final against Dylan Staley and Evan Krueger. Warsaw’s No. 1 duo of Justin Stout and David Homme settled down from a slow start to cruise in the second set, winning 6-2, 6-0 against Cameron Brill and Tim Conley.
Andrew Gauger continued his torrid pace in the second half of the season. The No. 3 for Warsaw won his ninth consecutive court match with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Nate Perek. Gauger hasn’t lost since the fifth-place match at the Warsaw Invite Sept. 12.
Colton Lind capped the third straight shutout for the Tigers in the tournament with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 win against Cal Heinisch at No. 2. Both players were frustrated by the wind and the inability to keep the ball inside the lines, Lind having just a little more control of his returns and lobs.
“I think they competed better than what the scores showed,” said Wawasee assistant coach Shane Staley, representing the team as head coach Vince Rhodes was unable to attend Friday’s final. “There were a lot of deuce add-ins and they just didn’t – it’s been one of our problems all year – they just aren’t as experienced as the Warsaw team we were playing. They haven’t been able to put some of the matches away and that comes with getting on the court in the offseason and getting more experienced.”
Warsaw (10-6) wins its fourth straight sectional title and 28th overall while Wawasee (6-10) hasn’t won a sectional title since 2010. The Tigers will meet Culver Academy (14-2) Tuesday at the Culver Academy Regional. Warsaw lost to Culver 3-2 on Sept. 2 in Warsaw, but Tiger head coach Rick Orban feels his team has turned the corner since then.
“I’m real pleased with the way they played tonight,” Orban said. “This weather was brutal. But it’s brutal for both teams. You switch sides and everyone gets the same amount of wind.
“We are playing smart tennis, and pretty aggressive tennis. We had a close match with them during the regular season. If we stay focused and believe in it, we have a pretty good shot at it. We’ll see what happens.”