Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
DUNLAP - First-year Warsaw head boys tennis coach Rick Orban has spent the past five springs taking the girls tennis team to semistate.
After several years as an assistant on the boys team, Orban has installed the template for a successful tennis team with him.
The Tigers are now one match away from their third semistate appearance in 14 years and first since 2003 after a 3-2 win over Fairfield in the first round of the Concord Regional Tuesday in Dunlap.
The comparisons between last year's girls team and this year's boys team are hard to ignore.
Mike Chanthalangsy, as Ashley Harrison was for Orban in the spring, is Warsaw's No. 1 singles player.
The two also share a similar style with both leaning toward the mold of baseliner, which makes for good high school players but more often a better college player.
Chanthalangsy battled with Fairfield's Marc Stutzman and engaged in some of the longest points of the match but was unable to sustain enough momentum and fell 6-2, 6-3.
Warsaw's No. 2 singles player Jason Sells plays a similar attacking style of tennis as Milagros Riddout did for Orban last season.
Sells came out in his match against the Falcons Eric Miller and controlled the tempo from start to finish in a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Ben Voorhorst, in the No. 3 singles spot for Warsaw, continued his inspired play of late with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Fairfield's Anthony Miller.
Voorhorst, in the role Jessica Sadler served for the girls, quietly goes out in the No. 3 singles slot and wins most of his matches with ease.
"Ben is just an animal out there," said Orban. "He leaves his opponent no room for error. If he misses one or two shots he's furious at himself but it works for him because he plays just as controlled."
While some questioned the order in which Orban played his girls team, Orban insists that team as well as this year's boys team is put together how it should be.
"The challenge matches are legit. Jason (Sells) or Ben (Voorhorst), either one could be No. 1. Those two along with Mike (Chanthalangsy) are extremely close in how they play," said Orban.
Deon Shafer and Jason Ummel continued their impressive play in No. 1 doubles with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Austin Bontrager and Kyle Miller.
The general consensus among the crowd was with two matches in favor of Fairfield and two matches in favor of Warsaw early, the No. 1 doubles match would decide the winner.
While Shafer and Ummel were the third win of the night for the Tigers, they were also third off the court for Warsaw eliminating any suspense.
With the match in hand and Sells, Voorhorst, Shafer and Ummel off the court, Chanthalangsy and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Mark Krizmanich and Ben Kawsky fought to push their respective matches to a third set.
For Krizmanich and Kawsky it may have been more about saving face. Fairfield's Jarin Hall and Caleb Bontrager breezed to a 6-0 win in the first set over Krizmanich and Kawsky as both Tigers looked off their game.
The two came back in the second set and were able to finally string points together. While the Falcons came away with the second set and the match, 6-0, 6-3, Orban saw some life from his No. 2 doubles team.
Orban also realizes how important it is for them to bounce back.
"You can't just say, 'I have great No. 1 and 2 singles and No. 1 doubles and I'll just rely on them'. That's how you get beat. No. 2 doubles has to come out with more intensity. They need to come out and play to win. The same goes for Mike (Chanthalangsy) and everyone else. We have to go out and try and win every match."
Warsaw, 12-3 on the season, will face DeKalb today for the regional crown and a trip to South Bend Saturday to compete in the semistate.
The Barons upended host Concord 3-2 to move their record to 19-1 on the season. Warsaw defeated Concord earlier in the season.
If the Tigers upend DeKalb it will be Warsaw's first semistate appearance since 2003 when the likes of Mark Sherman, Andrew Zale and Luke Wright lead the team to semistate. It would also be just the third semistate showing for Warsaw since 1991.
Warsaw and DeKalb's match is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
WARSAW 3, FAIRFIELD 2
Singles
No. 1 - Marc Stutzman (F) def. Mike Chanthalangsy 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Jason Sells (W) def. Eric Miller 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 - Ben Voorhorst (W) def. Anthony Miller 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Deon Shafer/Jason Ummel (W) def. Austin Bontrager/Kyle Miller 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 - Jarin Hall/Caleb Bontrager (F) def. Mark Krizmanich/Ben Kawsky (W) 6-0, 6-3
