ELKHART - It's been a magical week for the Wawasee tennis team. The Warriors had won four straight matches, a school first sectional championship and a first round regional match since Thursday.

But Wawasee ran out of magic Wednesday when the Warriors met up with Northern Lakes Conference champion Northridge in the regional championship. The Raiders won 5-0, dropping just one set along the way.

"Northridge is a quality team," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "They dominated the NLC. When you win that, you're going to go far."

The trophies and awards came so quickly for the Warriors over the past week that Mishler's athletes haven't even had much of a chance to sit back and enjoy it all. Wawasee opened the sectional last Thursday and then won the sectional Saturday. While teams in other sports have a full week off from sectional to prepare for regional, the Warriors had just two days to get ready for DeKalb and then had to battle Northridge the next day.

"We haven't really had a chance to comprehend it all," Mishler said. "That's helped us because they didn't get a chance to realize what they were doing."

Northridge beat Wawasee 4-1 in the regular season and ended first in the NLC Championship, while Wawasee ended third. It was no surprise that the No. 17 Raiders won Wednesday. It was somewhat of a surprise that the Warriors were Northridge's opponent, however - even to Mishler.

"I knew this was going to happen in the next few years, it just happened a year earlier than I thought."

Mandy Perzanowski did the best job for Wawasee against the Raiders. At No. 1 singles, she beat Susie Plank in set No. 1 7-5, before losing the last two sets 6-1 and 6-2. Both Kara Mathew and Shanda Bucher lost in singles matches 6-2, 6-2.

At No. 1 doubles, Kardia Senkspiel and Laura Lundin lost 6-4, 6-4 and at No. 2 doubles Kim Troup and Steph Shivers fell 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

The Warriors will lose three varsity performers from this year's squad, Mathew, Senkspiel and Troup. However, Mishler has some able athletes stepping up from junior varsity next year.

"It's going to be tough to match a season like this," Mishler said. "But they're not going to take a step back, and we've gained the knowledge of being in the regional finals."

Wawasee ends the season with a record of 14-5.

NORTHRIDGE 5, WAWASEE 0

Singles

No. 1 - Susie Plank (Northridge) def. Mandy Perzanowski 5-7, 6-1, 6-2

No. 2 - Sarah Mater (Northridge) def. Kara Mathew 6-2, 6-2

No. 3 - Jenny Springer (Northridge) def. Shanda Bucher 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1 - Megan Godfrey and Corrie Herbster (Northridge) def. Kardia Senkspiel and Laura Lundin 6-4, 6-4

No. 2 - Dana Smith and Traci Brubaker (Northridge) def. Kim Troup and Steph Shivers 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 [[In-content Ad]]