MIDDLEBURY - Because of the slow start his team got off to this season, Warsaw girls tennis coach Rick Orban said people wrote the Lady Tigers off.
But winners, it's been said, don't listen to doubters.And nothing kept Warsaw from winning Tuesday night and advancing to tonight's regional final at Northridge High School - not the the weather, not the fact that play had to be moved to an indoor court in Goshen, and not the Westview Warriors, who the Lady Tigers beat 4-1.
"This is the most confident team I've ever coached," said Orban, whose team improved to 11-5 on the season. "They believe in themselves, they believe in each other, and they believe in the coaches. They listen to every thing we say, and they respond."
Westview finished its season with a record of 12-4. The Warriors' lone win came at No. 1 singles, where Cathy Wingstrom beat Alli Tucker 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
"Westview is a really good team," said Orban. "It really surprised me how good they were. For us to win 4-1, it was really incredible. Every body wrote us off early in the season, and they had a right to because we started off not well at all. But now, this team refuses to lose."
The Lady Tigers will play in the regional final today at 5 p.m. at Northride High School against Northern Lakes Conference foe NorthWood.
The Panthers (14-3) advanced to today's final match by beating the host Raiders (13-3) by a 3-2 count.
In their regular season matchup, the Tigers beat NorthWood 3-2.
"We're playing the best we can play, by far and away," said Orban. "Us playing NorthWood in the final is going to be two teams playing with a lot of confidence. It's going to come down to who wants it most. It's been a long time since I've been this excited about playing a match. Win or lose, it's been a great season, and this is a great group of kids."
Semifinal-round action began at Northridge at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and at 5:50 p.m. officials halted play because of rain and wet court conditions.
Thirty minutes later, the teams came back out to resume play, but rain began falling again immediately.
After a lengthy wait, play resumed again at seperate indoor sites, as Warsaw and Westview finished their match at Maple City Racquet & Fitness in Goshen, while NorthWood and Northridge completed their match at Eastlake Athletic Club in Elkhart.
"We wanted to play it, we were on a roll," said Orban. "I was worried some of the confidence and some of the momentum might go away, but it didn't. It's really different playing indoors, but the girls wanted to play and they did a great job finishing the match."
Warsaw took a 1-0 lead to the indoor facility, as freshman Sarah Hartle beat Michelle Hochstetler 6-0, 6-0 before play was halted the first time for rain.
The Tigers earned their second team point when seniors Stefani Davis and Jessica Cesaretti beat Megan Lamright and Kaitlyn Mast 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 2 doubles match.
Warsaw earned the decisive match point when senior Tara Akers beat Tabitha Lehman 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
"Tara Akers had never played a match indoors before, or taken lessons indoors," said Orban. "It's such a huge difference. I told her the courts were the same size, it's the same shots, and she believed it. She gave us the winning point, and that took pressure off the other kids."
In the No. 1 doubles match, Warsaw's Carlye Bishopp and Lauren Sciarra beat Jessica Purdy and Megan McFarren 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
