Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
If you watch Warsaw's No. 1 doubles team of Kara Kesler and Amber Barrett on the tennis court, you would think they have played together forever. But the fact is that Kesler and Barrett have not even played together for a full year.
"We played together for the first time in the Wawasee Tennis Tournament in July of last year," said Kesler.
Then when this season started, Barrett (last year's No. 2 singles player) and Kesler (half of last year's No. 1 doubles team) were placed together, and the rest is history. Going into tonight's Northridge Regional, Kesler and Barrett sport a 19-3 record. And those three losses were to state-ranked teams.
Kesler, a senior, has played varsity tennis for four years. She went to the state finals with partner Liza Weidenbenner in 1999, so Kesler has experience in the postseason.
"This year is much different than last time," said Kesler. "Back then we were just taking it one match at a time. We were happy to get as far as we did. This year we have been aiming for the state finals since the beginning of the season. It's one of our goals. We want to get there as a team. It's how we have played all year. If we play bad, we know we are not going to get to state by playing that way. If we play well, we feel we are getting more ready for state."
For Barrett, however, it's the first chance at a post-sectional match.
"We lost at the sectional last year, so I have never gone farther than sectional," she said. "Now we are trying to take things one match at a time, one team at a time. We are trying to play our best game every match."
And Warsaw will need to play its best match every time out from now on. As the Tigers get deeper in the state tournament, the competition gets tougher. In order to advance as a team, the Tigers must defeat 16-0 Fairfield, the winner of the NorthWood Sectional, tonight at Northridge.
Kesler and Barrett are not the only local doubles team to advance to the regional. Tippecanoe Valley's Kris Sanders and Kyleigh Gast won two matches at the Wawasee Sectional to advance to the Northridge Regional as well. Gast and Sanders advanced to the regional last year also.
Gast and Sanders, who sport an 18-1 record, will play Elkhart Memorial's Whitney Boling and Amanda Nommay at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Boling and Nommay are 1-0 in the postseason.
Warsaw is not the only team to advance to the regional. Triton won the Bremen Sectional to advance to tonight's South Bend Clay Regional. It is the first time the Trojans have advanced to the regional as a team.
"We are excited," said Triton coach Laura Lamaster. "We know we are the underdogs, but I think if our doubles are solid we have a good chance."
The 11-2 Trojans will take on 15-4 Plymouth at 4:30 p.m. today at Leeper Park Tennis Courts in South Bend. However, if there is rain, the Trojans and Pilgrims will face off at the South Bend Racquet Club.
"We went to the Warsaw Racquet Club last night to practice," said Lamaster. "We worked a lot on our doubles play because that is where Plymouth is strong. At the racquet club, we prepared for rain today. When you play inside, you have to work on lobbing. The South Bend Racquet Club has a lower ceiling, and we don't want to lose points by hitting the roof."
NORTHRIDGE REGIONAL
5 p.m. today
Warsaw (15-2) vs. Fairfield (16-0)
Elkhart Central (8-8) vs. DeKalb (2-11)
5 p.m. Wednesday
Individual regional
Dana Dunham (Angola) vs. Sarah Yoder (Bethany Christian)
Kris Sanders/Kyleigh Gast (Tippecanoe Valley) vs. Whitney Boling/Amanda Nommay (Elkhart Memorial)
SOUTH BEND CLAY REGIONAL
5 p.m. today
Triton (11-2) vs. Plymouth (15-4)
Penn (12-5) vs. St. Joe (18-1)
