Warsaw Netters Win Sectional
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Give Andy Lewis credit. The man knows what he's talking about.
For the third straight year, the Warsaw tennis coach predicted his team would win the sectional. For the third straight year, he was right.
The Tigers beat Whitko 5-0 in the first round, then beat Wawasee 3-2 in the second round to make it a three-peat at the Warsaw Sectional Saturday.
Craig Harman, Warsaw's No. 1 singles player, beat Wawasee's Mark Leinbach 6-3, 6-2. Ryan Van Puffelen, Warsaw's No. 2 singles player, beat Ryan Perzanowski 6-0, 6-1. Owen Compton and Matt Howard, Warsaw's No. 1 doubles team, beat Quyen Tran and Jared Mahnensmith 6-3, 6-4. Compton and Howard are 7-2.
Wawasee No. 3 singles player Steve Ummel beat Pete Hake 6-4, 6-0, while the Warrior No. 2 doubles team of Farhan Haq and Andy Cole beat Dan Benyousky and Dan Tupps 7-5, 6-1. Hake is 4-4, while Tupps and Benyousky are 4-5.
Lewis said the match wasn't as close as the 3-2 score might indicate.
"Wawasee came out ready to play," he said, "but we were never really in any danger of losing the match. We had strong performances from Craig, Ryan and our No. 1 doubles team."
In the other match, Wawasee beat Tippecanoe Valley 4-1 in the first round. Valley finished the year 6-4, while Wawasee's season ended with a 6-9 record.
The bad news for the other teams in the sectional is that this was the year to win it. Warsaw's lineup compared to last year was completely reshuffled - the Tigers had several seniors on last year's team. If Warsaw was going to have a rebuilding year, this was it. They still finished the regular season 8-6.
Harman, a No. 3 singles player last year, has had no trouble stepping into the No. 1 spot. He owns a 12-3 record.
"Craig grew up a lot," Lewis said. "We weren't sure what to expect of him. We knew he had the ability, the stroke. It was just a matter of putting it together. He lost only two matches in the conference. He lost to NorthWood's player earlier in the season, but then he turned around and beat him at the NLC match. The only player he hasn't beaten is Tim Miller in Goshen."
Van Puffelen was not even on the varsity team last year, but he was perfect at the junior varsity level. He was 18-0, and he followed that with a 12-3 record this year.
"You look at Ryan, and it's hard to see he's only a sophomore," Lewis said. "He has great ground strokes, which is the base of the game. He's worked hard on his volley and putting it away at the net. With a little work over the summer, he could be a very strong player for us next year."
Lewis has not lost a sectional yet at Warsaw. As a girls' coach, he's 2-for-2 winning sectional titles, making both of his teams a combined 5-for-5.
As much success as Lewis' teams have had at the sectional, they have had just as much failure at the regional. They have met Goshen at the regional the last three years, and Goshen won all three. The Tigers will again have to go through Goshen, because Goshen won the NorthWood Sectional.
Even last week, this was the match Lewis was looking toward. He knew his team would get there - he admitted the sectional has typically been "anticlimatic." What he didn't know was if Goshen would beat NorthWood. Once he found out Goshen did, his only prediction this time was that his team would have to play its best tennis of the season.
"We're probably going to need a couple of personal bests to do it," Lewis said. "Our doubles teams have proved they can beat their doubles. We need at least one of our singles to win, and we haven't been able to do that the last three years. Craig did go three sets last year in the No. 3 singles match.
"Tom Slabaugh is pretty strong at No. 2. Ryan would have to play the best match of his life. Is he capable? Yes. That's why you play them. I think our best shot will be Craig against Miller. He's come close before, so we'll see if he's up for the task."
Warsaw meets Goshen Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Northridge High School.
Semifinals
WARSAW 5, WHITKO 0
No. 1 singles - Craig Harman (WAR) def. Nate Allen 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles - Ryan Van Puffelen (WAR) def. Justin Roman 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 singles - Pete Hake (WAR) def. Brock Rhodes 6-4, 6-1
No. 1 doubles - Owen Compton/Matt Howard (WAR) def. Barry Weybright/Cory Sleither 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 doubles - Dan Benyousky/Dan Tupps (WAR) def. Ethan Weybright/Nick Hamill 6-4, 6-2
WAWASEE 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1
No. 1 singles - Eric Love (TV) def. Mark Leinbach 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 singles - Ryan Perzanowski (WAW) def. Marc Ellenwood 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 singles - Steve Ummel (WAW) def. Luke Plank 6-3, 6-1
No. 1 doubles - Quyen Tran/Jared Mahnensmith (WAW) def. Matt Craig/Brandon Holloway 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 doubles - Farhan Haq/Andy Cole (WAW) def. JayDee Parker/Mike Parker
Championship
WARSAW 3, WAWASEE 2
No. 1 singles - Craig Harman (WAR) def. Mark Leinbach 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 singles - Ryan Van Puffelen (WAR) def. Ryan Perzanowski 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 singles - Steve Ummel (WAW) def. Pete Hake 6-4, 6-0
No. 1 doubles - Owen Compton/Matt Howard (WAR) def. Quyen Tran/Jared Mahnensmith 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 doubles - Farhan Haq/Andy Cole (WAW) def. Dan Benyousky/Dan Tupps 7-5, 6-1 [[In-content Ad]]
Give Andy Lewis credit. The man knows what he's talking about.
For the third straight year, the Warsaw tennis coach predicted his team would win the sectional. For the third straight year, he was right.
The Tigers beat Whitko 5-0 in the first round, then beat Wawasee 3-2 in the second round to make it a three-peat at the Warsaw Sectional Saturday.
Craig Harman, Warsaw's No. 1 singles player, beat Wawasee's Mark Leinbach 6-3, 6-2. Ryan Van Puffelen, Warsaw's No. 2 singles player, beat Ryan Perzanowski 6-0, 6-1. Owen Compton and Matt Howard, Warsaw's No. 1 doubles team, beat Quyen Tran and Jared Mahnensmith 6-3, 6-4. Compton and Howard are 7-2.
Wawasee No. 3 singles player Steve Ummel beat Pete Hake 6-4, 6-0, while the Warrior No. 2 doubles team of Farhan Haq and Andy Cole beat Dan Benyousky and Dan Tupps 7-5, 6-1. Hake is 4-4, while Tupps and Benyousky are 4-5.
Lewis said the match wasn't as close as the 3-2 score might indicate.
"Wawasee came out ready to play," he said, "but we were never really in any danger of losing the match. We had strong performances from Craig, Ryan and our No. 1 doubles team."
In the other match, Wawasee beat Tippecanoe Valley 4-1 in the first round. Valley finished the year 6-4, while Wawasee's season ended with a 6-9 record.
The bad news for the other teams in the sectional is that this was the year to win it. Warsaw's lineup compared to last year was completely reshuffled - the Tigers had several seniors on last year's team. If Warsaw was going to have a rebuilding year, this was it. They still finished the regular season 8-6.
Harman, a No. 3 singles player last year, has had no trouble stepping into the No. 1 spot. He owns a 12-3 record.
"Craig grew up a lot," Lewis said. "We weren't sure what to expect of him. We knew he had the ability, the stroke. It was just a matter of putting it together. He lost only two matches in the conference. He lost to NorthWood's player earlier in the season, but then he turned around and beat him at the NLC match. The only player he hasn't beaten is Tim Miller in Goshen."
Van Puffelen was not even on the varsity team last year, but he was perfect at the junior varsity level. He was 18-0, and he followed that with a 12-3 record this year.
"You look at Ryan, and it's hard to see he's only a sophomore," Lewis said. "He has great ground strokes, which is the base of the game. He's worked hard on his volley and putting it away at the net. With a little work over the summer, he could be a very strong player for us next year."
Lewis has not lost a sectional yet at Warsaw. As a girls' coach, he's 2-for-2 winning sectional titles, making both of his teams a combined 5-for-5.
As much success as Lewis' teams have had at the sectional, they have had just as much failure at the regional. They have met Goshen at the regional the last three years, and Goshen won all three. The Tigers will again have to go through Goshen, because Goshen won the NorthWood Sectional.
Even last week, this was the match Lewis was looking toward. He knew his team would get there - he admitted the sectional has typically been "anticlimatic." What he didn't know was if Goshen would beat NorthWood. Once he found out Goshen did, his only prediction this time was that his team would have to play its best tennis of the season.
"We're probably going to need a couple of personal bests to do it," Lewis said. "Our doubles teams have proved they can beat their doubles. We need at least one of our singles to win, and we haven't been able to do that the last three years. Craig did go three sets last year in the No. 3 singles match.
"Tom Slabaugh is pretty strong at No. 2. Ryan would have to play the best match of his life. Is he capable? Yes. That's why you play them. I think our best shot will be Craig against Miller. He's come close before, so we'll see if he's up for the task."
Warsaw meets Goshen Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Northridge High School.
Semifinals
WARSAW 5, WHITKO 0
No. 1 singles - Craig Harman (WAR) def. Nate Allen 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles - Ryan Van Puffelen (WAR) def. Justin Roman 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 singles - Pete Hake (WAR) def. Brock Rhodes 6-4, 6-1
No. 1 doubles - Owen Compton/Matt Howard (WAR) def. Barry Weybright/Cory Sleither 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 doubles - Dan Benyousky/Dan Tupps (WAR) def. Ethan Weybright/Nick Hamill 6-4, 6-2
WAWASEE 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1
No. 1 singles - Eric Love (TV) def. Mark Leinbach 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 singles - Ryan Perzanowski (WAW) def. Marc Ellenwood 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 singles - Steve Ummel (WAW) def. Luke Plank 6-3, 6-1
No. 1 doubles - Quyen Tran/Jared Mahnensmith (WAW) def. Matt Craig/Brandon Holloway 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 doubles - Farhan Haq/Andy Cole (WAW) def. JayDee Parker/Mike Parker
Championship
WARSAW 3, WAWASEE 2
No. 1 singles - Craig Harman (WAR) def. Mark Leinbach 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 singles - Ryan Van Puffelen (WAR) def. Ryan Perzanowski 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 singles - Steve Ummel (WAW) def. Pete Hake 6-4, 6-0
No. 1 doubles - Owen Compton/Matt Howard (WAR) def. Quyen Tran/Jared Mahnensmith 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 doubles - Farhan Haq/Andy Cole (WAW) def. Dan Benyousky/Dan Tupps 7-5, 6-1 [[In-content Ad]]