Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw boys tennis coach Rick Orban threw down a challenge to his team.
The Tigers were up to it.
Warsaw topped Mishawaka Marian 5-0 in non-conference action on the Tigers' senior night, which was also their final regular season match.
Orban requested that his team come out and dominate the Knights to properly send off the Tigers' three seniors.
And while the final match, the No. 1 singles tilt between Warsaw's Deon Shafer and Marian's Mike Koscielski, took every bit of two and a half hours, Warsaw was able to give its three seniors a proper send off.
One of those seniors, No. 3 singles player Ben Voorhorst, was the first off the court with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win over Jack Chartier.
"Ben had a little bit of a letdown Saturday," said Orban of Voorhorst's performance in the Northern Lakes Conference Championships at Plymouth, where the Tigers tied with the host Pilgirms for the conference crown. "I told him to show everybody. And boy did he."
Voorhorst ran Chartier, who had a winning record entering Monday night, right off the court in less than a half hour.
Warsaw's No. 2 doubles team of Mark Krizmanich and Ben Kawsky also responded after a disappointing performance at the NLC championships.
The duo overpowered and outhustled Marian's Mike Patty and Shiva Thinakal en route to a 6-2, 6-0 win.
"They just dominated tonight," said Orban of his No. 2 doubles team.
Orban's No. 1 doubles team of Jake Wallin and Zach Tucker didn't dominate but they never left their match in doubt as they trumped Sean Julien and Andy Krizman 6-3, 6-3.
At No. 2 singles, Mike Chanthalangsy, who earned all-conference honors Saturday by winning the No. 2 singles championship, avoided a letdown in his 6-0, 6-3 win over Kyle Shirk.
Chanthalangsy, Kawsky and Voorhorst comprise the senior leadership for Warsaw.
And while the Tigers have raced to a 10-1 record this season on the strength of their seniors, youth has also been served for Warsaw.
Shafer, a sophomore, participated in the longest and perhaps most entertaining match Tuesday.
Shafer took on Koscielski in a rematch of last year's No. 1 singles tussle where Shafer lost.
Shafer came out focused and took the first set 6-4. The talented sophomore had trouble with his serve all night and despite breaking Koscielski on a consistent basis fell in the second set 6-4.
Shafer then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the final set before things got a bit testy. Koscielski called a Shafer return out before the ball landed causing several complaints from the Warsaw cheering section.
Shafer's focus remained, however, and despite a few more questionable line calls by Koscielski, Shafer topped Marian's top singles player 6-4 in the final set after Koscielski double faulted.
"Deon really is resilient," said Orban. "Deon lost to him last year and he truly wanted to win tonight. He didn't have a mental lapse tonight and he stayed really strong."
With another win, their 10th straight after a season-opening loss to Penn, the Tigers get ready for what they hope will be a long postseason run.
The first hurdle comes in the form of Churubusco in the opening round of the Warsaw Sectional Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
And while Warsaw should breeze through its sectional, Orban and his team are taking nothing for granted.
"I really believe that any team can beat any other team on any given day," said Orban. "And these kids know that. These next two days of practice we'll keep drilling that idea to them."
WARSAW 5, MISHAWAKA MARIAN 0
Singles
No. 1 -ÊDeon Shafer (W) def. Mike Koscielski 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊMike Chanthalangsy (W) def. Kyle Shirk 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 -ÊBen Voorhorst (W) def. Jack Chartier 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊJake Wallin/Zach Tucker (W) def. Sean Julien/Andy Krizman 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -ÊMark Krizmanich/Ben Kawsky (W) def. Mike Patty/Shiva Thinakal 6-2, 6-0
JV -ÊWarsaw 7, Marian 4
Singles
No. 1 - Chase Byerly (W) def. Greg Lackner 8-1
No. 2 - San Hudson (M) def. Jacob Macdonald 8-4
No. 3 - Bryce Scott (W) def. Tyler Sieradzki 8-5
No. 4 - Andrew Tuskey (M) def. Brent Harman 8-2
No. 5 - Sheldon Coffelt (W) def. Conner Orear 8-3
No. 6 - Steve Hodges (W) def. Will Amor 8-2
No. 7 - Chase Byerly (W) def. Phil Kim 8-0
Doubles
No. 1 - Brian Thallemer/Piero Ridoutt (W) def. Brian Wanbaugh/Joel Mynsberge 8-0
No. 2 - Collin Abbott/Richard Feng (W) def. Mike Fawler/Christ Staun 8-1
No. 3 - Danny McShane/Steven Barany (M) def. Ethan Guy/Tim Savage 8-5
No. 4 - Marian def. Shawn Carmichael/Brian Thallemer 8-5
