ELKHART – The Warsaw boys tennis team won its first Northern Lakes Conference championship since 2006, and did so in convincing fashion Saturday. After finishing the regular season at 7-0 in the conference, the Warsaw Tigers also won the three-day NLC tournament at Concord, taking championships on four of the five courts. “This is one of the best teams I've ever had, all the way down,” Warsaw coach, and 2012 NLC Coach of the Year, Rick Orban said. “The depth chart is one of the best I've ever had. All year long, I've said, 'If you're focused, you won't believe how good you can be.' The last three nights we proved how good we can be.” On those three nights, Warsaw lost just once, as junior Kyle Wettschurack fell in Wednesday's opening round, before going on to win on Thursday and Saturday, finishing fifth at No. 1 singles. Outside of that setback, the rest of the Tigers were undefeated, as junior Evan Miller won the No. 2 singles title and senior Alek Jansen was the champion at No. 3 singles. Junior Will Petro and senior Connor Singrey remained undefeated on the year with their No. 2 doubles championship, while senior AJ Herendeen and sophomore Sam Rice actually had to play on two courts before winning the No. 1 doubles title. Playing at Concord High School on a brisk, windy morning Saturday, the action was forced to stop after a heavy rain began with only three matches still taking place. At the point of the stoppage, Herendeen and Rice had just lost the second set of their match against Concord's T Cunningham and Trevor Warren, a duo they had lost to Monday at Concord in three sets. Because of the wet courts, the tournament was forced to finish 10 miles up the road at Elkhart's East Lake Athletic Club. “They were pretty quiet," Orban said about Herendeen and Rice's mood on the bus ride to East Lake. “They felt they probably should have won the second set. We gave two games away. We missed nine easy volleys at the net. All I told them was to come out and be aggressive and to play smart.” Playing indoors, the duo jumped out to a 5-0 lead, before winning it 6-2. “When we were up 5-0, I couldn't believe it,” Herendeen said. “At 3-0, I was like, 'OK, this can't keep up.' Once it got to 5-0, I was like, 'Oh yeah. We got this. It's done.’” The tandem's three-set win (7-5, 2-6, 6-2) was Warsaw's toughest of the day. At No. 3 singles, Jansen won 6-2, 6-2, avenging an earlier season loss to Plymouth's John Hunter. “Hunter was undefeated in the conference and we kind of knew how he played,” Orban said. “So (Alek) never saw a hard shot (at Friday's practice). It was all lobs and pretty soft. We knew he could win and he knew he could win. His confidence was there.” And the confidence was also there at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles. At No. 2 singles, Miller entered as the top seed and defeated Elkhart Memorial's Spenser Gilbert 6-2, 6-2, while Petro and Singrey proved why they were a top seed, downing Plymouth's Kameron Eisenhour and Ryan Johnson 6-4, 6-2. “Evan Miller just came out and took him apart today,” Orban said. “He didn't mess around. He stayed focused the whole time. At 2 doubles, they were down in the first set. I just went over and talked to them about how they've been playing all season, and boom, boom, boom, boom, away they go.” Up next for the Tigers is this week's sectional, which will take place at Warsaw, beginning Wednesday. Winners of 24 sectional crowns, the Tigers had won five-straight before Wawasee defeated them in 2010 and Columbia City upset them last year. And with Columbia City, Tippecanoe Valley, Wawasee and Whitko joining them in the sectional, the Tigers shouldn't be pushed, but Orban is cautious. “We'll look at sectionals one match at a time,” he said. “The draw is Monday. I'm kind of hoping we don't get the bye. I'd like to play Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, just to continue on. If not, we'll have practice before sectionals start.” Until then, Warsaw's sitting back enjoying their spot atop the NLC. “To win the NLC Tourney and the NLC outright is just huge,” Orban said.
NORTHERN LAKES CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Team Results – Warsaw 52, Plymouth 44, Concord 32, Northridge 32, Elkhart Memorial 30, Goshen 22, NorthWood 7, Wawasee 2 (Finals) No. 1 Singles: 1st – Gabe Vervynckt (P) def. Chris Robbins (Nr) 6-3, 6-2; 3rd – Mazin Hakim (EM) def. Nick Pollock (C) 6-2, 6-4; 5th – Kyle Wettschurack (War) def. Austin Stutzman (G) 6-2, 6-1; 7th - Mitchell Keiser (NW) def. Kyler Love (Waw) 6-2, 6-1 No. 2 Singles: 1st – Evan Miller (W) def. Spenser Gilbert (EM) 6-2, 6-2; 3rd – Josh Garfein (Nr) def. Matt Kotva 6-2, 6-2; 5th – Matt Flynn (P) def. Chase Myers (Waw) 6-2, 6-2; 7th – Adam Bratten (G) def. Quinn Stillson (NW) 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 No. 3 Singles: 1st – Alek Jansen (War) def. John Hunter (P) 6-2, 6-2; 3rd – Chirag Patel (EM) def. Hudson Kay (G) 7-5, 6-0; 5th – Jed Miller (Nr) def. Jack Hinkle (C) 6-2, 6-2; 7th – Abe Robinson (NW) def. Todd Hauser 6-1, 6-1 No. 1 Doubles: 1st – AJ Herendeen/Sam Rice (War) def. T Cunningham/Trevor Warren (C) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2; 3rd – Kendall Fosler/Jack Holloway (P) def. Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelmann (G) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; 5th – Andrew Gingerich/Bryan Slabach (Nr) def. Elliott Denton/Trevor Tavallali (EM) 6-3, 6-1; 7th - Brennan Angle/Jayson Linhart (NW) def. Isaac Rigdon/Dylan Hauser (Waw) 6-4, 6-4 No. 2 Doubles: 1st – Will Petro/Connor Singrey (War) def. Kameron Eisenhour/Ryan Johnson (P) 6-4, 6-2; 3rd – Tony Fenech/Jared Searer (C) def. Derick Hostetler/Zach Ganger (G) 6-4, 6-1; 5th – Eric Beck/Michael Eash (Nr) def. Devan Maugel/Caleb Yoder (NW) 6-1, 6-3; 7th – Stephen Tefft/Jon Bailey (EM) def. Doug Hapner/Roz Kunkle (Waw) 6-3, 6-2 All-NLC: Gabe Vervynckt (P), Evan Miller (War), Alek Jansen (War), AJ Herendeen/Sam Rice (War), Will Petro/Connor Singrey (War), Nick Pollock (C), Mazin Hakim (EM), Chris Robbins (Nr) All-NLC Honorable Mention: T Cunningham/Trevor Warren (C), Spenser Gilbert (EM), Andrew Gingerich/Bryan Slabach (Nr), Jack Holloway/Kendall Fosler (P), Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelmann (G) Coach-of-the-Year: Rick Orban (War) Final NLC Standings: Warsaw 16, Plymouth 13, Concord 12.5, Northridge 9.5, Memorial 9, Goshen 6, NorthWood 4, Wawasee 2
