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MIDDLEBURY - This one served its purpose, but that's about it.
Warsaw's tennis team beat DeKalb 4-1 in Tuesday's first round of the Elkhart Regional, but as far as Tigers head coach Andy Lewis was concerned, all the win did was make sure Warsaw advanced to today's regional finals.
It did nothing else.
Lewis was so disenchanted with his team's play, he even compared the 4-1 win to a loss.
"We played terrible, except for Ryan (VanPuffelen)," Lewis said. "This is kind of like the Dallas Cowboys losing to the New York Giants."
Warsaw came in 13-2, while DeKalb was just 11-8. Warsaw beat Northop 5-0 earlier this season. Northrop beat DeKalb. Playing in a weak sectional helped DeKalb make it to the regional.
Six letters explained why Lewis was so concerned: G-O-S-H-E-N. Goshen has won the last six regionals, and until a 3-2 win over the Redskins this year, the Tigers were 0-7 against them the last four years. Now Warsaw meets 17-1 Goshen in the regional finals at McKnaughton Park in Elkhart at 4:30 this afternoon. Goshen advanced by beating Elkhart Central (13-4) 3-2.
The last thing Lewis wanted to see was his team flat the night before a match with Goshen.
He saw it anyway.
Lewis thought his team fell into the trap of looking ahead to today's regional championship.
"Definitely," he said. "We knew DeKalb wasn't very strong. I worked really hard to not get them to look past DeKalb. They did anyway."
Only one player escaped Lewis' wrath, and that was No. 2 singles player VanPuffelen. VanPuffelen won 6-1, 6-0 in about 45 minutes. That was the type of score Lewis expected out of all of his players, but they didn't deliver.
"Ryan showed up," Lewis said.
Harman won the No. 1 singles match over Ryan Linstromberg 6-3, 6-2. He could have been better, Lewis said.
"Harman fell asleep at the beginning and end of his first set," Lewis said.
Peter Anders, who is 18-0 at No. 3 singles, beat Evan Bosworth 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. He was a little too carefree, Lewis said.
"Our No. 3 singles player (Peter Anders), we're going to have to sic (No. 1 doubles player) Dan Benyousky on him," Lewis said. "He wasn't ready to play."
After sleepwalking through the middle of their match, Benyousky and Owen Compton finished strong for a 6-1, 7-5 win over Canan Wallace and Brandon Blackwell in the No. 1 doubles match.
Matt Krizmanich and Eric Grossnickle had Warsaw's lone loss. They fell to Justin Koenig and Matt Lehtinen 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 2 doubles match.
The bottom line? Warsaw looked ahead to the regional finals. Warsaw won, but Warsaw looked sloppy. Lewis only hopes those bad habits don't carry over to tonight's match with Goshen.
"We didn't come ready to play," Lewis said. "We just can't do that. You have to play to win. You can't play not to lose. That could do some damage (against Goshen) if it happens again.
"I think this was a wakeup call."
If the match wasn't, Lewis assured that his speech later that evening would be.
"They know what's coming," he said.
ELKHART TENNIS REGIONAL
FIRST ROUND: WARSAW 4, DEKALB 1
Records: Warsaw 14-2, DeKalb 11-9
Singles
No. 1 - Craig Harman (W) def. Ryan Linstromberg 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 - Ryan VanPuffelen (W) def. Jake Cox 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 - Peter Anders (W) def. Evan Bosworth 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Dan Benyousky/Owen Compton (W) def. Canan Wallace/Brandon Blackwell 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 - Justin Koenig/Matt Lehtinen (D) def. Eric Grossnickle/Matt Krizmanich 6-2, 6-4
