Warsaw Tennis Takes NLC Win Over Wawasee In Two-Venue Match
April 26, 2019 at 4:02 a.m.
Warsaw Tennis Takes NLC Win Over Wawasee In Two-Venue Match
By Mark Howe-
Ultimately, the Tigers earned a 3-2 win over the host Warriors in a Northern Lakes Conference match that started on the Warsaw campus before rain forced players indoors at Eastlake Warsaw courts.
The most interesting match of the competition was at No. 2 singles, where Warsaw’s Anastasia Kalikova filled in for an injured Taylor Shoaf. Tiger head coach Rick Orban opted to move Kalikova into the No. 2 spot rather than move Rachel Boyle up from No. 3. Earlier this week, Kalikova was playing junior varsity No. 3 singles.
Kalikova competed well with Wawasee senior Peyton Rookstool before falling 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.
“It’s quite a move from the JV to No. 2 singles, and I told her, ‘Play your game, and have fun with it,’”?Orban said. “She was a nervous wreck, but we kept talking to her, and the other kids were talking to her, supporting her and helping keep her mind off of it before we played.
“She ended up in a first-set tiebreaker. Talk about being impressed; Jan (Orban, wife of and assistant coach for Rick Orban) and I were both being impressed by her, and that bodes well.
“In the second set, her serve was broken one time and she lost 6-3, but she was extremely competitive... We should be pretty good at that position when the conference and sectional tournaments comes around.”
Warsaw’s Alyssa Zeller won a first-set tiebreaker on her way to a close 7-6 (12-7), 6-4 win over Kendra Doerr at No. 1 singles.
Elizabeth Kleopher picked up the other win for the Warriors at No. 3 singles, taking a 6-4, 6-4 win over Rachel Boyle.
The Tigers won both doubles matches. Seniors Rechel Yeager and Reagan Merchant took a 6-2, 6-3 win over Wawasee’s Kaitlyn Graber and Molly Jones at the No. 1 position, and Amy Herendeen and Maddie Ray won 6-0, 6-1 over Abby Morehead and Tate Cowan.
Wawasee interim head coach Lynette Jackson said between the adversity created by the coaching change earlier this week and rain shifting the venue midmatch, she was proud of her team’s gumption.
“They are playing their hearts out, taking this opportunity and really stepping it up. They’ve shown great courage and strength after everything that’s happened and played very, very well. I’m proud of them.”
Jackson said her team is beginning to see the fruits of their labor in being competitive with teams with a strong history, such as Warsaw.
“They’ve put a lot of time in the offseason toward improving, learning new things and learning to play to their strengths. They are just starting to see the real results of that effort, and it’s great to see that coming together.”
Orban said it’s a better rivalry when both teams are competitive, and showed the Wawasee program respect in his post-match comments.
“It’s great for their program and really, it’s good for our program because it’ll push us even harder,” Orban said. “It reminded me of the good old days, when both teams were really good.
“Wawasee used to have some really good teams, and there were a couple of sectionals where I didn’t think we’d win going in to them. It was always so exciting. So having Wawasee be a strong program is good for us, good for the Northern Lakes Conference and good for the sectional, and it’s much more interesting tennis to see when both programs are strong.”
The Tigers have a non-conference match at Fort Wayne Concordia scheduled for today. Wawasee will host West Noble at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
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Ultimately, the Tigers earned a 3-2 win over the host Warriors in a Northern Lakes Conference match that started on the Warsaw campus before rain forced players indoors at Eastlake Warsaw courts.
The most interesting match of the competition was at No. 2 singles, where Warsaw’s Anastasia Kalikova filled in for an injured Taylor Shoaf. Tiger head coach Rick Orban opted to move Kalikova into the No. 2 spot rather than move Rachel Boyle up from No. 3. Earlier this week, Kalikova was playing junior varsity No. 3 singles.
Kalikova competed well with Wawasee senior Peyton Rookstool before falling 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.
“It’s quite a move from the JV to No. 2 singles, and I told her, ‘Play your game, and have fun with it,’”?Orban said. “She was a nervous wreck, but we kept talking to her, and the other kids were talking to her, supporting her and helping keep her mind off of it before we played.
“She ended up in a first-set tiebreaker. Talk about being impressed; Jan (Orban, wife of and assistant coach for Rick Orban) and I were both being impressed by her, and that bodes well.
“In the second set, her serve was broken one time and she lost 6-3, but she was extremely competitive... We should be pretty good at that position when the conference and sectional tournaments comes around.”
Warsaw’s Alyssa Zeller won a first-set tiebreaker on her way to a close 7-6 (12-7), 6-4 win over Kendra Doerr at No. 1 singles.
Elizabeth Kleopher picked up the other win for the Warriors at No. 3 singles, taking a 6-4, 6-4 win over Rachel Boyle.
The Tigers won both doubles matches. Seniors Rechel Yeager and Reagan Merchant took a 6-2, 6-3 win over Wawasee’s Kaitlyn Graber and Molly Jones at the No. 1 position, and Amy Herendeen and Maddie Ray won 6-0, 6-1 over Abby Morehead and Tate Cowan.
Wawasee interim head coach Lynette Jackson said between the adversity created by the coaching change earlier this week and rain shifting the venue midmatch, she was proud of her team’s gumption.
“They are playing their hearts out, taking this opportunity and really stepping it up. They’ve shown great courage and strength after everything that’s happened and played very, very well. I’m proud of them.”
Jackson said her team is beginning to see the fruits of their labor in being competitive with teams with a strong history, such as Warsaw.
“They’ve put a lot of time in the offseason toward improving, learning new things and learning to play to their strengths. They are just starting to see the real results of that effort, and it’s great to see that coming together.”
Orban said it’s a better rivalry when both teams are competitive, and showed the Wawasee program respect in his post-match comments.
“It’s great for their program and really, it’s good for our program because it’ll push us even harder,” Orban said. “It reminded me of the good old days, when both teams were really good.
“Wawasee used to have some really good teams, and there were a couple of sectionals where I didn’t think we’d win going in to them. It was always so exciting. So having Wawasee be a strong program is good for us, good for the Northern Lakes Conference and good for the sectional, and it’s much more interesting tennis to see when both programs are strong.”
The Tigers have a non-conference match at Fort Wayne Concordia scheduled for today. Wawasee will host West Noble at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
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