SYRUACUSE - On paper, the Warsaw Tigers entered the girls tennis sectional at Wawasee High School as the heavy favorite.
On the court, the Tigers played like a team in search of their ninth-straight sectional championship and 11th in 13 years, as they beat Kosciusko County rival Tippecanoe Valley 5-0 Thursday in the semifinal round."We knew we'd be the favorite," said Warsaw coach Rick Orban. "Over the last three weeks, this team has played some of the best tennis I've seen in several years. We won our last five Northern Lakes Conference matches and did exceptionally well at the NLC Match. We're on a roll right now."
"I told them to stay focused and play their game," Orban added.
The Tigers certainly seemed focused, as they lost just seven games total in the five matches against the Vikings Thursday.
"I told them I didn't want to lose any more than three games in any match, and they took me serious," said Orban.
Warsaw, which improved to 8-5 on the season, won all five matches in straight sets.
At No. 1 singles, Alli Tucker downed Valley's Brooke Roberts 6-0, 6-0.
And at No. 3 singles, Sarah Hartle beat Valley's Susana Contreras 6-1, 6-1.
Warsaw's dominance in the two doubles matches was much the same as it was on the singles courts, as Lauren Sciarra and Carlye Bishopp teammed up to beat Valley's Kendra Roberts and Marissa Martin 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
In the No. 2 doubles match, Warsaw's Stefani Davis and Jessica Cesaretti coupled to beat Lindsay Cox and Ann Jackson 6-1, 6-2.
With the win, the Tigers advanced to Saturday's 10 a.m. sectional championship match against the Wawasee Warriors, who beat Churubusco 4-1 in Thursday's other semifinal match.
Valley fininished its season with a 2-11 record, while the host Warriors ended Churubusco's season with an 0-11 record.
"There's always a chance," Wawasee coach Roger Brady said of having to beat Warsaw to win the sectional championship. "It's going to be tough. They beat us 4-1 earlier in the season. But there's always a chance, that's why you play the match."
In beating the Churubusco Eagles, Wawasee won all three singles matches and No. 2 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Wawasee's Kelsey Mark beat Nichole Brandt 6-1, 6-0, while Haley Windle beat Churubusco's Maria Martinez 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
In the third singles position, Wawasee's Amber Brady upended Shannon Kuznar 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
In the No. 2 doubles match, the Warrior duo of Katie Allen and Kalyn McDonald beat Alyssa Holloway and Hannah Dodson 6-2, 6-0.
In Churcubusco's only win of the match, the team of Kelli Klaehn and Alyssa Carpenter beat Lauren Erb and Rachael Larson 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
To come away with their third sectional championship in program history and first since 2000, the Warriors must beat a Warsaw team that is playing its best tennis at the right time.
The Tigers are in search of the program's 19th sectional championship.
"Our confidence level is up," said Orban. "When you believe you're gonna win, you're hard to beat. We beat Wawasee 4-1 earlier, but I know Roger will have his team fired up. We'll be fired up, too. We call it our sectional, and winning the sectional is something the girls take pride in. We start talking about it every year at the first practice."
