If the Warsaw girls tennis team plays Rochester 10 times, the Tigers would probably beat the Zebras at least nine.

Traditionally, Warsaw's tennis team handles Rochester fairly easily. First-year coach Jeannie Glunt knew this, and she figured her girls probably expected to win.

But Warsaw was just coming off spring break. Some of the girls on the tennis team were gone a week to two weeks. Uniforms were passed out Monday, one day before the 1997 season opener with Rochester.

Glunt wondered how focused her players would be. She made sure she talked to them about that before Tuesday's match.

"I didn't want them to worry about the fact that yeah, we're supposed to beat them," she said. "Historically, yes, we should have won this match.

"I talked to them about not being overconfident."

The Tigers didn't walk into that trap, as they took care of Rochester 5-0. The Tigers won all of the matches in straight sets, and Rochester scored no more than two points in any match.

For the most part, Glunt instructed her players to take this match and use it like a practice. No need to get fancy. Not yet, anyway.

"Whatever they needed to work on, they worked on," she said. "If they wanted to practice a certain stroke, they worked on that. If they wanted to win a game a certain way, they worked on that."

Aynsley Small, a junior, made her first varsity start at No. 3 singles. She beat Eric Ginther 6-0, 6-1.

"Aynsley Small never played varsity before," Glunt said. "She came out and played very aggressively and played a very consistent match. I was real proud of the way she played."

Senior Kim Bradley stepped into the No. 1 singles spot for the Tigers this year. She fared well, beating Alissa Troutman 6-1, 6-1. Krista Coppes, Warsaw's No. 2 singles player, took care of Amy Wilson 6-0, 6-2.

Warsaw's No. 1 doubles team of Anne Jarrette and Kim Paczkowski beat Jenny Duncan and Ashley Warner 6-1, 6-2. Lisa Estep and Brooke Westover, Warsaw's No. 2 doubles team, defeated Tera Lewis and Greta Notz 6-2, 6-0.

Rochester fell to 0-1.

Warsaw, 1-0, has a 4:30 p.m. Thursday match at Columbia City.

With the sunny day and the win, Glunt couldn't have asked for more.

"I'm glad I'm here," she said. "My career record is 1-0. We're batting 1.000.

"We were able to put it all together. We had some real good matches."

WARSAW 5, ROCHESTER 0

No. 1 singles - Kim Bradley (W) def. Alissa Troutman 6-1, 6-1

No. 2 singles - Krista Coppes (W) def. Amy Wilson 6-0, 6-2

No. 3 singles - Aynsley Small (W) def. Erica Ginther 6-0, 6-1

No. 1 doubles - Anne Jarrette/Kim Paczkowski (W) def. Jenny Duncan/Ashley Warner 6-1, 6-2

No. 2 doubles - Lisa Estep/Brooke Westover (W) def. Tera Lewis/Greta Notz 6-2, 6-0

JV: WARSAW 5, ROCHESTER 0

No. 1 singles - Amy King (W) def. Heather Bugno 8-3

No. 2 singles - Kari Demeter (W) def. Grace Overmyer 8-6

No. 3 singles - Kim Fluke (W) def. Catherine Skidmore 8-0

No. 1 doubles - Megan Piazza/Sarah Krizmanich (W) def. Danielle Browning/Stacey Zent 8-3

No. 2 doubles - Lisa Wolf/Lori Wolf (W) def. Jennifer Bright/Mandy Burkett 8-0 [[In-content Ad]]