Hosting the Culver Military Academy Eagles Wednesday, the Warsaw boys tennis team showed it could hang for one set, but the second seemed too much. Losing 4-1, with their lone win being a 6-0, 6-0 victory by senior Keaton Joyner at No. 3 singles, the Tigers (3-3) found themselves fighting for a first-set victory on every court. However, after losing that set, the Eagles (4-0) dominated the second set on each court, getting the win. "A slow start is expected coming off the bus," CMA coach Alan Loehr said. "We haven't played Warsaw in a couple of years because of rain outs. So, the courts are unfamiliar, they're getting off the bus and they're nervous." Outside of Joyner, Warsaw had no other seniors playing varsity. Instead sophomore Kyle Wettschurack took on senior Wilson Wu at No. 1 singles and sophomore Evan Miller was pitted against junior Quinlan Smith at No. 2 singles. Then, on the doubles courts, Warsaw junior A.J. Herendeen and freshman Sam Rice battled a senior-junior duo, while Warsaw junior Connor Singrey and sophomore A.J. Jansen also met a senior-junior duo at No. 2 doubles. The difference in experience was evident, as CMA appeared to stay consistent the entire match, while Warsaw had its ebbs and flows. "Last night, we just killed Goshen and the kids played the way they can play," Warsaw coach Rick Orban said of the team's 5-0 win Tuesday at Goshen. "But when you have a team this young, playing freshmen and sophomores against juniors and seniors, you just never know who's going to show up." Against Goshen, Orban witnessed aggression in his doubles teams. Against CMA, he saw something different. "The two doubles teams — when we attack the net, and we're aggressive, we are good," Orban said. "Yet tonight, every change over I was out there saying, 'Come on guys. Let's get to the net.' It's an interesting mix this year." As his players mature over the course of the season, Orban's guys may have another run-in with the Eagles, as they could now meet at the Culver Military Academy Regional after a shake-up in postseason alignment this offseason. "Now we have to get through out sectional," Orban said about getting out the newly-aligned sectional after winning the last five in the old format. "Columbia City beat us, and they shouldn't have and I wouldn't expect it again, but this is a potential matchup at the regional." And Loehr can also see his team matching up with the Tigers again. "With the shift, it's likely we could see each other at the regional," he said. "Potentially, this was a preview of a regional matchup, which certainly makes you feel good to get the first one. But, we know the winds have changed before." Prior to any thoughts of a regionals, Orban is worried about winning a conference championship. That title will become a lot more attainable with a win at Plymouth today. "The one thing about Plymouth is, they never give up," Orban said. "It will be interesting to see which (Warsaw) team shows up.
CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY 4, WARSAW 1 SINGLES: No. 1 — Wilson Wu (C) def. Kyle Wettschurack 6-3, 6-0; No. 2 — Quinlan Smith (C) def. Evan Miller 6-3,6-2; No. 3 — Keaton Joyner (W) def. Justin Sitjar 6-0, 6-0 DOUBLES: No. 1 — Will Stackhouse/Eric Maudhuit (C) def. A.J. Herendeen/Sam Rice 6-4, 6-1; No. 2 — Jack Mitzell/Aaron Arvizu (C) def. Connor Singrey/A.J. Jansen 7-5, 6-3 Records — CMA 4-0, Warsaw 3-3 JV — Warsaw 12, CMA 0 JV Singles: No. 1 — Raj Gokhale (W) def. Jorge Segura 8-3; No. 2 — Will Petro (W) def. Jose Thompson 8-6; No. 3 — Nick Hamrick (W) def. Leo Segura 8-2 JV Doubles: No. 1 — Simon Stone/Nick Jansen (W) def. Roy Radke/Brenden Radotovich 8-2; No. 2 — Caleb Snyder/David Zigon (W) def. Adam Fatheja/Bruce Thompson 8-5; No. 3 — Andrew Cox/Drew Schramm (W) def. Kembie Manning/Ben Bustria 8-5; No. 4 — Caleb DeBoest/John David French (W) def. Ashley Brooks/Caleb Brooks 8-7; No. 5 — Spencer Reincke/Ryan Tynan (W) def. Evan Anderson/Andrew Kilbourne 8-5; No. 6 — Drew McCollom/Nick Kurtanick (W) def. Nate Mistra/Makolm Snyder 8-7 (7-5); No. 7 — Wesley Shuler/Joshua Miller (W) def. Alberto Gonzalez De La Vega/Will Brewer 8-3; No. 8 — Caleb Snyder/Mason Gwin (W) def. George Ye/Andrew Van Duyan 8-0; No. 9 — Zigon/Petro (W) def. Ian Mahen/Johnny Young 8-0
