Warsaw advances to regional after winning 27th championship
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Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
The Warsaw boys tennis team faced little resistance in its capture of a third-straight sectional title Thursday at the Tiger Courts. Facing the Whitko Wildcats (7-10), which had to win two matches Wednesday to reach the finals, the Warsaw Tigers (9-6) didn’t drop a game in a 5-0 victory. Whitko did have to forfeit the No. 2 doubles match, as sophomore Jared Arnold had to leave school because of an illness Thursday, putting the team down 1-0 before play even began. “That doubles team (with junior Nick Rose) has been playing well, so I kind of wish we could have seen what they would have put out there,” first-year Whitko coach Chris McGehee said. Even if the doubles team had been able to play, it’s hard to believe much would have changed, as Warsaw won 6-0, 6-0 on all four courts. “If you say, ‘Let’s win every court 6-0,’ that’s almost unrealistic,” Warsaw coach Rick Orban said. “I talked to the kids after watching (Whitko Wednesday), and basically I told them that if they stayed focused, we should win this. Obviously, they stayed focused.” The win advances Warsaw to Tuesday’s Culver Military Academy Regional, where it will face the winner of the Bremen Sectional, which has been Plymouth the last 17 years. The Bremen Sectional final is scheduled to be completed today, barring weather, but if favorite Plymouth does advance, Warsaw will face a familiar opponent. Losing to Plymouth 4-1 on Sept. 4 in Warsaw, the Tigers then lost four Northern Lakes Conference championship matches at Middlebury Saturday. However, with a third attempt, Orban is keeping the confidence in his guys. “It’s always nice to have a third shot, because you get to learn from the first and second,” he said. “If the kids stay as focused as they did tonight, I think we have a shot at it.” Staying focused against Whitko wasn’t only difficult because of how favored they were, but the Tigers also had to wait out a two-hour delay as rain kept the courts wet. “The kids were ready to play,” Orban said. “They were psyched up for it, then we had the rain delay, then it rained again. I was really impressed that they put it together like this.” Counting their 5-0 win over Tippecanoe Valley on Wednesday, the Tigers dropped a total of five games in the sectional, illustrating their dominance. According to Orban, breezing through the sectional is preferable to getting pushed. “This is a confidence thing,” he said. “You still have to stay focused, because you never know. You look at the Plymouth girls last year, when they lost (at the Bremen Sectional after winning it 13-straight times). Upsets happen in the tournament. So, you never know.” A win over Warsaw would have indeed been a huge upset, but even with the loss, McGehee was happy with his team’s showing in the sectional, highlighted by its wins over Wawasee (3-2) and Columbia City (5-0) Wednesday. “At the beginning of the season, I didn’t have expectations,” he said. “I wanted to kind of set a tone for the Whitko program, which has been down recently, due to a lack of consistency. I just wanted to come in and get the guys to compete. We definitely did that last night, and I think we surprised a lot of people. That’s what I love. “Some of these (Warsaw) kids play year-round, and that’s just not my kids,” he added. “But the fact that we got to this point, I’m proud of the kids and the progress we’ve made.”
WARSAW 5, WHITKO 0 (Warsaw Sectional, C’ship) SINGLES: No. 1 – Sam Rice (War) def. Cole Bechtold 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 – Nic Jansen (War) def. Bailey Platt 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 – Caleb Ray (War) def. Austin Nettrouer 6-0, 6-0. DOUBLES: No. 1 – Cole Baker/Christopher Herendeen (War) def. Alex Robbins/Alex Bechtold 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 – David Homme/Justin Stout (War) won by forfeit. Records: Warsaw 9-6, Whitko 7-10.
