Lady Tigers Avenge Loss, Advance To Sectional Semis
Posted
Mark Howe-mhowe@timesuniononline.com
Revenge is a dish best served cold, or so it’s said. Warsaw used power, patience and perseverance to avenge a 3-2 loss to Columbia City earlier this season by clipping the Eagles 4-1 in the opener of the girls tennis sectional at the Warsaw courts on a cool Wednesday afternoon. The power came at No. 1 singles from Liza Lewis, who used a superior serve and strong ground strokes to beat Maddy Minnick 6-1, 6-0. The patience came from Collette Smith and Ella Knight at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Both players were content to play longer rallies, many lasting more than 20 shots in Smith’s case, to win. The perseverance came at No. 2 doubles from Sydney Hartman and Athena Schlitt, who dropped only four games in their straight set win. The Lady Tigers’ only loss was at No. 1 doubles, where Camille Kerlin and Hannah Clark have been playing together for a couple of weeks. All three Warsaw singles players are freshmen, but are playing their best tennis at the right time of the year, according to head coach Rick Orban. “(Liza) is playing extremely well,” Orban said. “More importantly, Liza is playing with confidence. (Colette) is playing with confidence. Ella is playing with confidence. They all are playing much smarter tennis and not just going for the big shots and trying to end the point in two strokes. That is maturity coming from the freshmen. “We played so well at the (Northern Lakes Conference tournament) with this lineup,” Orban said. “The kids have gotten confidence. It’s been a tough season for them. But you can see the improvement in the last three weeks. The lineup works. We talked about Columbia City; they’re a good team. They beat us 3-2 earlier in the year. I was pretty confident in my 1-2-3 singles and my No. 2 doubles and I figured my No. 1 doubles may have a challenge simply because of the lob, and the movement. Hannah just started playing there two weeks ago, so it’s a matter of getting used to that type of a game.” Normally a tennis team will avoid making changes to a lineup late in the season, but Orban saw the benefits of adding Rice to the doubles mix. “Hannah brings a lot of power to the game. She’s pretty upbeat; she brings a positive attitude to the team,” he said. “Camile seems to react to that, and that’s a good thing. They did really well at the NLCs and when you’re looking at kids who won two out of three or all three, it’s not the time to be changing the lineup. “At the end of the season we always focus for the sectional and the postseason, and that was the main change this year.” With the win, Warsaw earned the right to take on Wawasee in the semifinals this afternoon. Tippecanoe Valley and Whitko will play in the other semifinal, and the winners will meet Friday All matches will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Warsaw courts.
WARSAW 4 COLUMBIA CITY 1 Singles – No. 1: Liza Lewis (W) def. Maddy Minnick 6-1, 6-0; No. 2: Colette Smith (W) def. Katie Doermand 6-2, 6-1; No. 3: Ella Knight (W) def. Hannah Clark 6-1, 6-0 Doubles – No. 1: Macie Hinen/Aubey Wright (CC) def. Camille Kerln/Hannah Rice 6-1, 6-3, No. 2: Sydney Hartman/Athena Schlitt (W) def. Cassie Bosselman/Baylee Smith 6-2, 6-2
