NLC Tennis Tourney On Tap
It’s going to be a busy week for the Warsaw girls tennis team.
The Tigers will look to make it a productive one as the regular season comes to a close with an eye towards the sectional.
Coach Rick Orban’s youthful squad will hope to move up in the final conference standings over the next five days.
Warsaw played at Goshen Monday night in league play. The Tigers then returned to NorthWood Tuesday evening to conclude an NLC match that was suspended due to weather on May 5. That conference match is tied at 2-2.
Warsaw will then compete in the NLC Tournament Wednesday through Friday. The event begins at Plymouth Wednesday before moving to Concord on Thursday and then back to Plymouth on Friday for the finals.
The Tigers, who have shuffled their lineup several times this spring, currently have three freshmen in it. Freshman Liza Lewis has been slotted at No. 1 singles for Warsaw with freshman Ella Knight at No. 2 singles. Freshman Hannah Rice, who was sidelined due to an injury at the start of the season, is playing No. 1 doubles with senior Camille Kerlin.
Warsaw, which beat Goshen and NorthWood to finish at 4-3 in the NLC, will have Lewis at No. 1 singles, freshman Colette Smith at No. 2 singles and Knight at No. 3 singles for the conference tournament. The team of Rice and Kerlin will play at No. 1 doubles for the Tigers with the duo of senior Sydney Hartman and sophomore Athena Schlitt at No. 2 doubles.
Warsaw also has NLC wins over Northridge (3-2) and Wawasee (5-0) among its overall record of 6-7.
Wawasee is 2-10 overall and 0-7 in NLC play after a 5-0 loss to Plymouth Tuesday night. Senior Jada Antonides leads Wawasee at the top of their singles lineup. She will play No. 1 singles in the league tourney. Senior Nealy Thanasrivanitchai will play No. 2 singles for the Warriors with senior Chelsea Carolus at No. 3 singles.
The Warriors will go with junior Charity Parker and senior Ashley Larson at No. 1 doubles in the NLC event. The team of junior Jaclyn Gehlhausen and freshman Kabrea Rostochak will play at No. 2 doubles.
Concord, which edged Warsaw 3-2 last week, is the regular-season league champion at 7-0. Coach Jan Soward’s squad, which had four seniors in its lineup, is 10-2 overall this spring.
Concord has the top seeds at three of the five positions for the NLC Tournament. Plymouth has the other two No. 1 seeds in the tourney.
Warsaw is scheduled to host its own sectional, which includes Wawasee, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley and Columbia City, starting on May 20. The Tigers have won 14 straight sectional championships.