Wawasee Ends Warsaw's Sectional Run
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Wawasee tennis coach Phil Mishler expected his team to be good enough to win a sectional -Ênext year.
With a team comprising mostly sophomores and juniors, Mishler expected next year to be their year to have a shot to win the sectional. However, the Wawasee tennis team is one year ahead of schedule with its 4-1 win over Tippecanoe Valley in the Warsaw Sectional Saturday.
"This win is ahead of schedule," said Mishler. "I thought next year would be our year, but all the guys' summer work and winter work paid off this year. I'm glad we were able to take this opportunity."
Wawasee's championship ended Warsaw's seven-year sectional title run.
But the 4-1 win was not easy for the Warriors.
After Evan Gerard defeated Luke Shambaugh 6-3, 6-1 for the first Wawasee team point, Valley's Drew Shafer topped Scott Beasley 6-3, 7-5 to knot the score at one.
In the meantime, both doubles teams split the first two sets to force a third. At No. 1 doubles, Wawasee's Mickey Ashpole and Logan Pilcher teamed up to defeat Brian Love and Andy Martin 6-2 in the first set. But Love and Martin fought back to win the second set 6-4 and force a third set.
Ashpole and Pilcher took a 4-1 lead in the thid set, but Love and Martin refused to give in. Soon the score was tied at four. With the score sitting at 5-4 in Wawasee's favor, Valley served the next match to deuce. After four ad-outs and one ad-in, the Warriors won two points in a row to get the 6-4 win in the third set.
With Wawasee up 2-1 in the team score, the No. 2 doubles teams played to a 1-1 tie. Warriors Seth Beer and Rosten Trobaugh took the first set 6-1, but Scott Kindig and Zach Shambaugh won the second set 6-4.
Beer and Trobaugh persevered to win the third set 6-0, giving Wawasee the third point and the sectional win.
"We played tough," said Valley coach Rod Hamman. "Wawasee is a good, quality team. They got the shots down and played very well today."
In the final match of the day, Josh Abrams and Phil Jackson battled at No. 2 singles. Jackson won the first set 7-5, but Abrams won two sets in a row 6-3 to make the score 4-1 Wawasee.
"The whole year we have played good enough to win," said Mishler. "We had trouble finding the way to put it away. I give that to the idea that they were inexperienced and they did not know how to win. I think our guys grew up today.
"Several times this year, we would get up in the first set, and then drop the second set showing that we were not sure how to get in there and get the win. Fortunately some of the third sets paid off. Today, we finally finished the match and put it away. We had the potential to be a championship team all year, and we grew up and earned it today."
"I give Wawasee a lot of credit," said Hamman. "They played very well. They took advantage of their opportunities today. On the other hand, we had our chances to win, and that's all I can ask.
"I thought our team played very well. They played good, quality tennis. We just got beat by a better team today."
Wawasee advances to the Concord Regional where the Warriors will play Angola Tuesday night.
Valley's Shafer will play Warsaw's Brad Simmons in the singles sectional at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Concord.
WARSAW TENNIS SECTIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
WAWASEE 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1
Singles
No. 1 -ÊDrew Shafer (V) def. Scott Beasley 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 -ÊJosh Abrams (W) def. Phil Jackson 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 -ÊEvan Gerard (W) def. Luke Shambaugh 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊMickey Ashpole/Logan Pilcher (W) def. Brian Love/Andy Martin 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊSeth Beer/Rosten Trobaugh (W) def. Scott Kindig/Zach Shambaugh 6-1, 4-6, 6-0
Round One:
Tippecanoe Valley 5, Whitko 0
Wawasee 4, Warsaw 1 [[In-content Ad]]
Wawasee tennis coach Phil Mishler expected his team to be good enough to win a sectional -Ênext year.
With a team comprising mostly sophomores and juniors, Mishler expected next year to be their year to have a shot to win the sectional. However, the Wawasee tennis team is one year ahead of schedule with its 4-1 win over Tippecanoe Valley in the Warsaw Sectional Saturday.
"This win is ahead of schedule," said Mishler. "I thought next year would be our year, but all the guys' summer work and winter work paid off this year. I'm glad we were able to take this opportunity."
Wawasee's championship ended Warsaw's seven-year sectional title run.
But the 4-1 win was not easy for the Warriors.
After Evan Gerard defeated Luke Shambaugh 6-3, 6-1 for the first Wawasee team point, Valley's Drew Shafer topped Scott Beasley 6-3, 7-5 to knot the score at one.
In the meantime, both doubles teams split the first two sets to force a third. At No. 1 doubles, Wawasee's Mickey Ashpole and Logan Pilcher teamed up to defeat Brian Love and Andy Martin 6-2 in the first set. But Love and Martin fought back to win the second set 6-4 and force a third set.
Ashpole and Pilcher took a 4-1 lead in the thid set, but Love and Martin refused to give in. Soon the score was tied at four. With the score sitting at 5-4 in Wawasee's favor, Valley served the next match to deuce. After four ad-outs and one ad-in, the Warriors won two points in a row to get the 6-4 win in the third set.
With Wawasee up 2-1 in the team score, the No. 2 doubles teams played to a 1-1 tie. Warriors Seth Beer and Rosten Trobaugh took the first set 6-1, but Scott Kindig and Zach Shambaugh won the second set 6-4.
Beer and Trobaugh persevered to win the third set 6-0, giving Wawasee the third point and the sectional win.
"We played tough," said Valley coach Rod Hamman. "Wawasee is a good, quality team. They got the shots down and played very well today."
In the final match of the day, Josh Abrams and Phil Jackson battled at No. 2 singles. Jackson won the first set 7-5, but Abrams won two sets in a row 6-3 to make the score 4-1 Wawasee.
"The whole year we have played good enough to win," said Mishler. "We had trouble finding the way to put it away. I give that to the idea that they were inexperienced and they did not know how to win. I think our guys grew up today.
"Several times this year, we would get up in the first set, and then drop the second set showing that we were not sure how to get in there and get the win. Fortunately some of the third sets paid off. Today, we finally finished the match and put it away. We had the potential to be a championship team all year, and we grew up and earned it today."
"I give Wawasee a lot of credit," said Hamman. "They played very well. They took advantage of their opportunities today. On the other hand, we had our chances to win, and that's all I can ask.
"I thought our team played very well. They played good, quality tennis. We just got beat by a better team today."
Wawasee advances to the Concord Regional where the Warriors will play Angola Tuesday night.
Valley's Shafer will play Warsaw's Brad Simmons in the singles sectional at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Concord.
WARSAW TENNIS SECTIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
WAWASEE 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1
Singles
No. 1 -ÊDrew Shafer (V) def. Scott Beasley 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 -ÊJosh Abrams (W) def. Phil Jackson 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 -ÊEvan Gerard (W) def. Luke Shambaugh 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊMickey Ashpole/Logan Pilcher (W) def. Brian Love/Andy Martin 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊSeth Beer/Rosten Trobaugh (W) def. Scott Kindig/Zach Shambaugh 6-1, 4-6, 6-0
Round One:
Tippecanoe Valley 5, Whitko 0
Wawasee 4, Warsaw 1 [[In-content Ad]]