Warsaw Tennis: Lind, Doubles Lift Tigers Past Goshen
GOSHEN – There’s plenty of reasons why Colton Lind sits in the top spot in the lineup for the Warsaw boys tennis team this season.
Among those is his ability to change his game when it’s needed.
A change was needed Tuesday night and Lind delivered in the clutch for his team.
Lind responded with a three-set win on the No. 1 singles court to lift the Tigers past host Goshen 3-2 in a Northern Lakes Conference matchup.
Lind’s win in just over two hours was the clinching point as Warsaw improved to 4-1 overall and moved to 2-0 in league play. Goshen falls to 9-1 overall and goes to 0-1 in NLC action.
Senior Lind, one of just two players back from last year’s varsity lineup, dropped his first set 6-4 to junior Wes Beck. After a pow wow with coach Rick Orban, Lind went to his serve and volley game and dominated the rest of the way, winning the final two sets 6-2, 6-1.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Lind after his victory. “I lost my first three matches of the year, but now I’m 2-0 in the conference. I’ve showed up for the NLC.
“Volleys are my favorite shot when I play indoors. Tonight, I knew after that first set that I was going to lose if we continued to have long rallies. I had to end the points quicker. At 3-0 in the second set I knew that I had it. Consistency is my goal and that’s why I came to the net tonight. We have a solid team with good doubles.”
Warsaw coach Rick Orban, whose team lost five of its varsity players from a year ago, liked what he saw from Lind, who played No. 1 singles a year ago.
“Colton loves to hit from the baseline,” explained Orban. “He can do that very well too. But after that first set we had a talk and it was time to switch it up. He needed to serve and volley. The good thing about Colton is that he has the ability to do that and he did. You ask him and he can do it and that was huge for him and our team both tonight.”
The Warsaw doubles teams were a huge factor in the win.
The pair of juniors Nolan Knight and Reuben Williams rolled to a 6-1, 6-2 win over juniors Drake Crowder and Josh Haines.
“Wow,” said Orban about the play of his No. 2 doubles unit. “They just dominated tonight. They just played so smart the entire match.”
The Tigers also got a gutty performance from seniors Bailey Buhrt and Kyler Bartol at No. 1 doubles action. The duo rolled to a 6-2 win over juniors Ben Bontrager-Singer and Diego Torres in the opening set. The Goshen pair came back in the second set, but Buhrt and Bartol played an outstanding tiebreaker to win 7-6 (7-2).
“No. 1 doubles was pushed in that second set,” Orban remarked. “They played extremely well in their tiebreaker.”
Goshen, which returned just two letter winners from last year’s 13-5 team, won at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. Senior Simon Myers beat junior Spencer Britton 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Ryan Harmelink then regrouped to outlast Caleb Williams 3-6, 6-1 in a clash of sophomores at No. 3 singles.
“Daniel (Goshen coach Daniel Love) does a great job with his program and I have all the respect for him,” said Orban. “They were 9-0, but I did not tell out kids that coming here tonight.
“I like what I’m seeing from my guys. We are 2-0 in the conference with CMA tomorrow and Plymouth Thursday. We will use the CMA match Wednesday to get ready for Plymouth. Plymouth is always tough. I want to be 3-0 in the NLC at the end of the week.”
The Tigers, who were coming off of a 5-0 win over Elkhart Memorial in their league opener last Thursday, have just a loss to Penn thus far this fall.
Goshen, which was sectional runner-up to Fairfield in 2016, had a 5-0 win over Lakeland Saturday after edging past Jimtown 3-2 on Friday.
The Warsaw junior varsity contingent beat Goshen 7-5. Winning in singles play for the JV Tigers were Jarett Orr, Hayden Anderson and Carter Schuh. Also claiming wins were the doubles teams of Nick Marsh and Brian Elliott, Kanton Waddle and Garrett Rodgers, Nick Rata and Dawson Vilamaa and Harrison Lewis and Riley Dugger.
Warsaw hosts CMA Wednesday and returns to league action at Plymouth on Thursday night. Goshen plays at NLC foe Northridge Thursday and at Fairfield on Friday.