Liza Lewis posted an impressive win at No. 1 singles for Warsaw Wednesday in the NLC Tournament.

WARSAW – Rick Orban expected his Warsaw girls tennis team to perform well on the first day of the conference tournament Wednesday.

The Tigers did not disappoint their coach.

Warsaw looked right at home on their home courts in going 4-1 as the three-day Northern Lakes Conference Tournament got going.

The Tigers, who finished in a tie for second place in the regular-season standings at 5-2 in the league,  got a quartet of impressive performances on day one.

The all-sophomore singles lineup of Liza Lewis (No. 1), Colette Smith (No. 2) and Ella Knight (No. 3) each posted strong straight set wins for Warsaw. The Tigers also got a straight set win from sophomore Hannah Rice and junior Athena Schlitt at No. 1 doubles. The hosts just missed out on a 5-for-5 opening round as sophomore Grace Miller and senior Rosie Fleming lost a tiebreaker in the third set to fall at No. 2 doubles play.

“I feel good with the four we got today,” said Orban. “Realistically coming into today, there was a chance that we might go 3-2. Now, I kind of feel like we should have been 5-0.”

Lewis turned in the top effort of the day for the Tigers. The southpaw had lost a 6-2, 6-1 final to Plymouth junior Lanae Singleton back on April 19 when the Tigers dropped a 4-1 final to the Pilgrims in the conference opener. Lewis, who was unseeded in the tourney, controlled the match Wednesday versus fourth-seeded Singleton from start to finish for a 6-3, 6-3 win.

“I was convinced that Liza had a pretty good shot to win today,” noted Orban. “She has has been playing better the last few matches and I have seen her confidence rising and that’s huge. She’s a sophomore and it’s tough playing No. 1 with the schedule that we play.

“Liza is extremely talented. The thing is that she was playing not to lose for a while. Now her confidence is back and she’s playing with a whole different mindset and playing to win. She played very well today. We had a plan and she stuck to it.”

Ella Knight won in straight sets at No. 3 singles for the Tigers.

Smith, a No. 1 seed, rolled to a 6-2, 6- win over Concord junior Kindra Pressinell and No. 2 seed Knight handled NorthWood freshman Reegan Miller 6-2, 6-1. Rice and Schlitt, a No. 3 seed, topped senior Charity Parker and sophomore Kabrea Rostochak of Wawasee -4, 6-0.

“Lettie played very well tonight and Ella played extremely well too,” noted Orban. “No. 1 doubles, after they woke up, played strong too.”

The No. 2 doubles match for Warsaw went on and on and on. Miller and Fleming lost the first set to junior Allison Murphy and freshman Keegan Thursby of Concord 6-1. The pair then won 6-4 to force a third set. The final set was back-and-forth before the Concord team won 7-6 as they took the tiebreaker 7-3. The three-set match was one of only two three setters of the 20 first-round matchups contested Wednesday.

Plymouth, which captured the regular season title at 6-1, also went 4-1 in first round play. The duo of Elkhart Memorial and NorthWood, which each were 5-2 in round robin play, were also 4-1 Wednesday.  Memorial was led by star junior and No. 1 seed Krystal Grubb, who won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Wawasee was 0-5 in first-round play. Senior Jazlyn Gelhausen lost 6-0, 6-0 to Grubb at No. 1 singles. Freshman Peyton Rookstool dropped a 6-0, 6-3 final to NorthWood junior Hannah Walter at No. 2 and freshman Meg Heinisch was defeated by Northridge junior Taylor Sellers 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 for the Warriors.

The Wawasee No. 1 doubles team of Parker and Rostochak lost to Warsaw’s Rice and Schlitt. The Warrior No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore Courtney Larson and freshman Kendra Doerr lost a 6-4, 6-0 final to sophomore Hannan Hakim and junior Mackenzie Williams of Memorial.

Winners at No. 1 singles on Wednesday included Grubb, along with Lewis, NorthWood senior Sydney Wysong and Concord junior Alana Brubaker. Taking wins at No. 2 singles were Smith, Walter, Plymouth junior Ashley Harrell and Memorial senior Taylor Freedline. The winners in the No. 3 singles bracket were Knight, Sellers, Plymouth sophomore and top seed  Cortni Cook and Concord freshman Regan Landis.

The No. 1 doubles bracket saw wins from Rice and Schlitt of Warsaw, the No. 1 seed duo of junior Kendall Dreibelbis and sophomore MaKenzie Scheetz of Plymouth, sophomore Layla Jojo and junior Maggie Dickerson of Memorial and junior Jama Rice and sophomore Kennedy Wiens of NorthWood. In No. 2 doubles play, first-round winners were Hakim and Williams of Memorial, Murphy and Thursby of Concord,  the top seed team of sophomore Betsy Nunemaker and junior Amanda Rhoade of NorthWood and senior Kayla Hoober and sophomore Leah Smith of Plymouth.

Orban knows what he wants from his team as the competitive tourney shifts to Plymouth on Thursday for day two before the final round returns to Warsaw on Friday.

“I want to see us with a positive attitude and excitement to be playing,” remarked Orban. “I want to see us come out with no fear and I’m looking for that belief from each of them that they can do it.”