Tennis Sectionals Start

Warsaw's boys' tennis team can't get caught looking ahead.

The favorites in the Warsaw Tennis Sectional always seem to have other things on its collective mind when the IHSAA tourney rolls around - getting another crack at Goshen in the regional.

In Warsaw's two "tuneup matches" this week against Huntington North and Penn, the Tigers have struggled and might have been caught looking ahead to postseason.

"Both matches, they weren't really ready to play," Warsaw coach Andy Lewis said. "They are starting to look forward, and I have to keep them focused.

"The kids have to motivate themselves," he said. "They have to want it, and not look past the first round."

Getting to the regional seems to be a given for Lewis and the Tigers, meeting Goshen may not be a sure bet, though.

"The sectionals have become anticlimatic for us because we have won it so many years in a row," Lewis said. "Goshen has to play NorthWood, and they match up well with Goshen. We might not even meet Goshen."

Wawasee Vs. Valley

Two teams that started off hot before tailing off at the end of the regular season will do battle in the Warsaw Sectional Saturday at 10 a.m.

Wawasee jumped out to a 4-0 start before hitting the skids in the Northern Lakes Conference and finishing 5-8. Valley started out 6-1 before losing the final three matches of the season to end up 6-4.

Both teams are looking to turn things around in the second season.

"We played well early in the year, and then started playing NLC matches," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "There are some pretty tough teams in the NLC. We struggled in the conference."

Wawasee finished last in the NLC regular season and tournament.

Valley ended up second in the Three Rivers Conference, losing out to Manchester, team that Wawasee beat just last week.

"We are a young team this year," Mishler said. "It was nice to get the win against Manchester after the past few weeks."

The two teams didn't face one another in the regular season, so they don't know a lot about each other. What they do know about it their own teams.

"It will be a good match, it should be very competitive," Valley coach Rod Hamman said. "We just need to focus on what we have been doing well. We have to believe in ourselves and have confidence. We have to just play our game, and not worry about the game they will play."

The interesting matchup for this one will be the doubles spots, where both teams possess some good talent there.

"I don't a lot about Valley, but I know they have good doubles teams," Mishler said. "Our doubles have been strong for us this year, and so has our No. 1 singles. Hopefully we can do well there."

The championship will be at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Triton Vs. Bremen

Of the other three teams in the Bremen Sectional (Bremen, Glenn, LaVille), the Trojans manhandled two of them. But guess which team Triton drew in the first round of the sectional. You got it, the team (Bremen) that beat Triton 5-0 during the regular season.

"Bremen has a very solid tennis team," Triton coach Hugh Rettinger. "This Saturday we have to come out firing. But I think our guys have seen them enough to know if we play the way we are capable of playing, we can play with them.

Triton, 10-2 overall, is in the midst of its best season in school history, and the Trojans would hate to see it end prematurely.

With good depth in the singles slots, the key for Triton will be how well its two doubles teams play against the Lions.

"I think we're as deep in our singles players as we possibly ever have been," Rettinger said. "I was asked by someone early in the season - and this has pretty well held true - I felt the key to our season was our doubles," he said. "I was convinced very few teams could beat us more than two out of three positions in the singles. Our singles have done what I thought they would do. Our No. 1 doubles team had some success, maybe even more than I could have predicted."

The obstacle is Bremen, who won the Northern State Conference with Triton finishing third.

"Unfortunately Triton didn't win the conference, but we would still like to get Triton its first sectional victory," Rettinger said. "If we can get Bremen, the other two are John Glenn and LaVille, both of which we handled in the regular season.

Manchester Vs. Peru

At Peru, the Manchester-Peru matchups in the sectional have become classics over the years. But this time, it will be sub .500 Manchester (6-7) against a down Peru squad Friday at 4:30 p.m. The championship is set for Saturday at 10 a.m.

"Peru is a good team, but they aren't as impressive this year as they have been in the past," Manchester coach Don Snell said.

Despite the record, Snell feels his squad his coming on at the right time of the year.

"We really seem to be peaking at the right time," Snell said. "We seem to be playing well the last few weeks."

With wins over the three other teams in the sectional, Wabash appears to be the favorite to take the team title.

"Wabash is the favorite since they have beaten the other three teams this year," Snell said.