SYRACUSE – If coach Rick Orban questioned how his Warsaw boys tennis team would respond to Monday’s loss to Penn, he got the answer he was looking for. One night after falling 4-1 to the Kingsmen, the Tigers were focused and determined, as they travelled to Syracuse and beat Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee 5-0. Warsaw won all five matches over the Warriors in straight sets. The Tigers are now 8-4 overall and 5-0 in NLC play, while Wawasee fell to 6-7 and 0-5. “I was extremely pleased with the way they played their game,” Orban said of his players. “A lot of times you can play down to their level if they are down. That’s what I was afraid of. I didn’t want that to happen. We talked about that on the way here, and I’ll tell you, they played really hard. They played really good tennis.” Evan Miller scored Warsaw’s first team point, beating Cal Heinish 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. At No. 1 singles, Sam Rice defeated Kyler Love 6-2, 6-3. And in No. 2 singles action, Kyle Wettschurack beat Todd Hauser 6-3, 6-1. In doubles action, it was more of the same dominance by the Tigers. At No. 1 doubles, Nikos Schlitt and Will Petro paired up to beat Dylan Hauser and Chase Myers 6-2, 6-1. In No. 2 doubles action, Warsaw’s Nic Jansen and Christopher Herendeen topped Luke Smith and Jake Hutchinson 6-1, 6-2. Despite the lopsided loss, Wawasee coach Vince Rhodes thought his team played some of its best tennis of the season. “We knew they were going to be harder hitters,” Rhodes said of the Tigers. “Actually, I was surprised our kids stepped up and played some of the best tennis I’ve seen them play all the way through the lineup.” Wawasee is in action again Thursday at Memorial, then plays in the Merrillville Invite Saturday before closing NLC play with NorthWood Monday. The Tigers host NorthWood Thursday and Concord Monday, as Warsaw tries to go 7-0 in the NLC for the second-straight year. “We can’t look past NorthWood,” said Orban. “As soon as you look past a team that’s when you get burned. Would they like to go undefeated in the regular season again? Sure. I just got done saying to them NorthWood is next. They’re not focused on Concord yet.”
