SYRACUSE -ÊBefore Thursday's tennis match against Northern Lakes Conference opponent NorthWood, Wawasee coach Phil Mishler told his team to start and finish strong.

"We talked about starting strong and finishing strong," said Mishler. "In previous efforts, one of our doubles groups started out strong and finished strong while the other started out weak and tried to finish strong when it was too late.

"We were mentally ready from the first handshake to start the match to the handshake after the match. The team was very focused today."

Laura Lundin started the night on the right foot for the Warriors. She defeated NorthWood's Jessica McCarthy in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 singles slot.

Then in the only match that went three sets, Wawasee's No. 2 doubles pair of Ashley Bell and Andrea Sands paired up against NorthWood's Nicole Fishbury and Andrea Atkinson. After dropping the first set 6-0, Sands and Bell fought back to win the final two sets 6-4 and 6-1.

In the next match to finish, Panther Jessica Yoder faced off against Warrior Mandy Perzanowski at No. 1 singles. In the first set, Perzanowski went up 4-3 and then 5-4 before winning the last game to win the first set 6-4. In the second set, Perzanowski went up 3-0 before allowing Yoder to score. However, Perzanowski persevered and won the second set 6-2 to get Wawasee's third team point of the night.

At the No. 1 doubles, Wawasee's Alex Heckaman and Ashley Ganz paired up to defeat Jen Myers and Chelsey Beyers of NorthWood, 7-6 (6-1), 6-1.

"We have had a few combinations at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles," said Mishler. "These teams have not played together all season, but they knew they had to step up and they did. We moved Ashley Ganz from JV to the No. 1 doubles team and Alex Heckaman was playing No. 3 singles before moving to the No. 1 doubles spot. They pulled off a good victory tonight."

In the longest match of the evening, NorthWood's Amy Hughes squared off against Wawasee's Kate Murphy. Hughes extended a 3-2 lead into a 6-2 win in the first set. Murphy took a 1-0 advantage in the second set, but Hughes fought back winning six straight games to get a 6-1 win.

"Amy Hughes really came out strong," said NorthWood coach Kham Keota. "She played well tonight."

NorthWood falls to 2-8 on the season and 1-5 in the NLC, while Wawasee improves to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

"We did not do too bad," said Keota. "This was a different lineup for us. Nee (Renee Jensen) is hurt and will be out for the rest of the season, so now we have different partners at varsity No. 2 doubles and JV No. 1 doubles. We are adjusting to the new alignment, but it was a rough night."

"As a whole, this was a total team effort," said Mishler. "That has sort of been a slogan for our team this season. We've gotta have a team effort, especially in the situation we're in."

WAWASEE 4, NORTHWOOD 1

Singles

No. 1 -ÊMandy Perzanowski (W) def. Jessica Yoder 6-4, 6-2

No. 2 -ÊAmy Hughes (NW) def. Kate Murphy 6-2, 6-1

No. 3 -ÊLaura Lundin (W) def. Jessica McCarthy 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

No. 1 -ÊAlex Heckaman/Ashley Ganz (W) def. Jen Myers/Chelsea Bowers 7-6 (6-1), 6-1

No. 2 -ÊAshley Bell/Andrea Sands (W) def. Nicole Fishbury/Andrea Atkinson 0-6, 6-4, 6-1

JV -ÊWAWASEE 3, NORTHWOOD 2

Singles

No. 1 -ÊDiane Jackson (W) def. Corrine Shields 6-2, 6-2

No. 2 -ÊRachel Trinkley (NW) def. Candice Brown 8-5

No. 3 -ÊJessica Plosek (W) def. Amber Bontrager 8-2

Doubles

No. 1 -ÊLaura GIlliam/Kelsey Davis (NW) def. Cara Windle/Jessie Korenstra 6-2, 1-6, 7-5

No. 2 -ÊKelsey Vansickle/Kristi Rosbrugh (W) def. Dawn Shaffer/Amanda Fales 8-5 [[In-content Ad]]