Skipping the cupcake route, the Warsaw boys tennis team has been opening its season against the Penn Kingsmen for years, with their latest encounter ending in a 5-0 loss Monday at Warsaw Community High School. "One of the advantages of playing Penn right away is — it lets me know where we're at and what we need to focus on," Warsaw coach Rick Orban said. "Penn's traditionally a powerhouse in northern Indiana, and they are once again this year." The Kingsmen (1-0) enter the 2011 season as the fifth-ranked team in District 2, but even with that, the Warsaw Tigers (0-1) hung closer than the final score would lead you to believe. Outside of a 6-3, 6-2 win by Penn's Michael Wang at No. 3 singles and a 6-2, 6-1 No. 1 doubles win by Brad Walter and Sean Anderson, the Tigers were very much in the three other matches. At No. 2 doubles, Warsaw sophomore Kyle Wettschurach and freshman Sam Rice bounced back from a 6-3 opening-set loss to win the second 6-2. However, in the third set, Penn's Matt Hollowell and Victor Lu dominated, winning 6-0 to give Penn it's third win of the night and secure the team victory. "At doubles, we lost our aggressiveness," Orban said. "We were really competitive with them, and had we stayed aggressive, I believe we could have pulled out a win on one of those courts." With the team match already decided, the No. 1 and 2 singles matches were still very much in doubt. At No. 1 singles, Warsaw sophomore Evan Miller overcame a tiebreaking loss in the opening set to dominate the second 6-2. But like his teammates at No. 2 doubles, the vocal Miller couldn't sustain momentum, succumbing 6-2 in the final set. "Tennis is an extremely mental game," Orban said. "In the first set, Evan's head was down. He was breathing hard, but he was up. If you'd looked at the score, you'd have thought he was down, and his opponent took advantage of that." While Orban commented that Miller was playing "not to lose" in the third set, he felt his only senior on the team, Keaton Joyner, didn't play aggressive enough in a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) loss at No. 2 singles. With aggressiveness being the key word, Orban commented that had his team played with that mindset, the season-opener could have had a much different outcome. "From a 5-0 loss, it's feasible that we could have won this thing 3-2," Orban said. Along with lacking aggressiveness, Warsaw is also lacking some experience right now, as Orban's lineup featured one senior, one junior, four sophomores and a freshman against the Kingsmen. "We're extremely deep, but we're extremely young right now," Orban said. And Orban plans to use that depth to his advantage. "You will see a much different lineup on Wednesday (at Columbia City)," Orban said. "I can guarantee you that. That's the advantage of being deep. The kids are just going to have to figure out that when I ask them to do something, that's what I want them to do. If they lose doing that, then I'm not upset. But when I ask them to do something and they don't do it — then I'll change the lineup. I'll find the kids that want to do that." As the matches go on, Warsaw won't only gain match experience, but will gain some of the swagger that goes with that experience. "Penn came in here expecting to win," Orban said. "Our kids thought, 'Wow. Maybe we can win on one of the courts.' That's the difference between a mature team and a young team."
PENN 5, WARSAW 0 SINGLES: No. 1 — Evan Rink (P) def. Evan Miller 7-6 (7-0), 2-6, 6-2; No. 2 — Connor McCarthy (P) def. Keaton Joyner 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); No. 3 — Michael Wang (P) def. A.J. Jansen 6-3, 6-2 DOUBLES: No. 1 — Brad Walter/Sean Anderson (P) def. A.J. Herendeen/Connor Singrey 6-2, 6-1; No. 2 — Matt Hollowell/Victor Lu (P) def. Kyle Wettschurach/Sam Rice 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 Records — Penn 1-0, Warsaw 0-1 JV — Penn 9, Warsaw 1 JV Singles: No. 1 — David Wang (P) def. Will Petro 8-1; No. 2 — Albert Kim (P) def. Drew Schramm 8-1; No. 3 — George Hamilton (P) def. John David French 8-0; No. 4 — Tom Pajor (P) def. Joshua Miller 6-2 JV Doubles: No. 1 — Joey Stoller/D.J. Harr (P) def. Caleb Snyder/Nick Jansen 8-2; No. 2 — Brendon Butler/Luke Luther (P) def. Andrew Cox/Nikos Schlitt 8-5; No. 3 — Malcolm Cabello/Luke Keleppe (P) def. Caleb DeBoest/Spencer Reincke 6-1; No. 4 — Aiden Koch/Jacob Acri (P) def. Drew McCollom/Drew Schramm 8-1; No. 5 — Ian Coneras/Brian Collier (P) def. Wesley Shuler/Nick Kurtaneck 6-4; No. 6 — Andrew Cox/Nick Jansen (W) def. Nick Oretga/Larry Wang 6-1
