ELKHART -ÊIt's like deja vu all over again for Warsaw girls tennis coach Joe Beeson.

Beeson coached the Tigers to the Final Four in 1991. Now, 10 years later, Beeson has returned to the helm of the Warsaw squad, and the Tigers are on the road to doing it again.

After rain postponed the Northridge Girls Tennis Regional's final match Wednesday, Warsaw and Elkhart Central met at the Eastlake Athletic Club Thursday night to decide which team would advance to the LaPorte Semistate Saturday.

After defeating each of their postseason opponents 5-0, the Tigers had their work cut out for them with Elkahrt Central. Until the regional final against the Blue Blazers, only one Warsaw match went into a third set.

However, all that changed Thursday night. Warsaw defeated Elkhart Central by a 4-1 score, and all three singles matches went to third sets.

Warsaw swept both doubles matches in two sets.

Warsaw's No. 1 doubles team of Kara Kesler and Amber Barrett got the first Tiger point of the night by defeating Laura Seaver and Michelle Stanley in straight sets. In the first set, Kesler and Barrett won 6-2. Then the Tiger duo went up 2-1 before winning four straight points to win the second set 6-1.

Once Kesler and Barrett cleared the court, teammates Angie Suchecki and Tracy Yoder prepared to take on Elkhart Central's Emily Hilliard and Emily Irwin. Warsaw's duo made quick work of the Blue Blazers, winning 6-0, 6-2.

But Warsaw's biggest challenge came from the singles matches.

"I knew we would really have a fight on our hands at the singles positions," said Beeson.

And Beeson was right.

At the No. 1 singles slot, Jessica Davis took on Elkhart Central's Alexis Bruland. Bruland topped Davis 6-4 in the first set, and then Davis had to dig herself out of a hole.

"After the first set, I told her, 'You've been down more than this before,'" said Beeson. "And she smiled. As soon as I saw that smile, I knew she was confident and I didn't have anything to worry about."

Davis then fought back to win the second set 6-0 and take the third set 6-4.

"There have been several times she started slow this year," said Beeson. "She was down 0-6, 0-3 to Kate Murphy in the NLC match, and Jessica came back to win. She's got a good head on her shoulders. She doesn't get flustered if she has a bad first set."

At the No. 3 singles position, Kristi Haddad picked up a win over Elkhart Central's Randi Osterloo 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

"Kristi Haddad had her best match of the year," said Beeson. "She was down, but then she made a strong comeback. That match was good for her confidence."

Warsaw's only loss of the night came at the No. 2 singles position where Warsaw's Lauren Witzky and Elkhart Central's Ashley Boot played a marathon match. Witzky came from behind in the first set to win 7-6, but then Boot kicked into gear. Boot won the last two sets 6-4, 6-2 to get Elkhart Central's only point in the match.

"We knew Elkhart Central was strong," said Beeson. "They have a much stronger schedule than we do. They were a very good team."

"I am very proud of my girls," said Elkhart Central coach Dave Whitaker. "We struggled early in the season, and the girls could have just rolled over and given up. But they worked hard, and they listened. No one thought we would get past the first round of the sectional and come in here and play Warsaw as hard as we did in the regional. I can't say enough about this team."

Tippecanoe Valley's No.1 doubles team competed in Thursday night's individual doubles competition. The Viking duo faced off against Elkhart Memorial's Whitney Boling and Amanda Nommay.

Boling and Nommay took charge from the beginning of the match. The Crimson Chargers won the first set 6-0 and then went on to take the second set 6-1.

"Elkhart Memorial's coach said this was one of their toughest matches so far this season," said Valley coach Jack Shambaugh. "Our problem was playing indoors. It took us three or four games to adjust to the pace. We've been playing outdoors all season, and it took a while to adjust to the quicker pace inside."

Warsaw (16-2) moves on to the LaPorte Semistate where the Tigers will play No. 18 Merrillville at 10 a.m. Saturday. The championship match will be played at 2 p.m. If rain postpones Saturday's semistate, the matches will take place at the same times on Monday.

WARSAW 4, ELKHART CENTRAL 1

Singles

No. 1 - Jessica Davis (War) def. Alexis Bruland 4-6, 6-0, 6-4

No. 2 - Ashley Boot (EC) def. Lauren Witzky 6-7, 6-4,6 -2

No. 3 - Kristi Haddad (War) def. Randi Osterloo 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

Doubles

No. 1 -Ê Kara Kesler/Amber Barrett(War) def. Laura Seaver/Michelle Stanley 6-2, 6-1

No. 2 - Angie Suchecki/Tracy Yoder(War) def. Emily Hilliard/Emily Irwin 6-0, 6-2 [[In-content Ad]]