Warsaw coach Rick Orban remembered the team that ended his boys tennis season last year, and he couldn't wait to see them again. He didn't have to wait long. Opening the season at home against Columbia City (1-2) Wednesday, the Warsaw Tigers (1-0) squared off against the team that defeated them in last year's sectional title bout, winning decisively, 5-0. "We felt we were the better team, but we lost to them in the regular season (3-2) and we lost to them in the sectional final (3-2)," Orban said of last season’s matchups with the Eagles. "You can believe at the first day of practice, within the first five minutes, I was reminding them about this match. I wanted it and the kids wanted it too." While Columbia City graduated five players off last year's team, Warsaw only graduated Keaton Joyner, meaning the decided edge was with the home team. Returning so much experience, the Tigers wasted little time, as junior Evan Miller quickly won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, followed by a 6-1, 6-2 victory by junior Will Petro and senior Connor Singrey at No. 2 doubles. The Tigers put a cap on the team win when the No. 1 doubles team of senior A.J. Herendeen and sophomore Sam Rice nabbed a 6-1, 6-3 victory, giving Warsaw all the points it needed for a team win. Despite the team match being decided, Warsaw junior Kyle Wettschurack and Columbia City senior Derek Hinen were still in action at No. 1 singles. Also, Columbia City freshman Niko Rongos fought back from a 6-0 opening-set loss against Warsaw senior A.J. Jansen to win the second 6-3, forcing a third at No. 2 singles. On the No. 1 court, Wettschurack was facing a player that had defeated him 6-1, 6-3 the last time they met. This time, the two were very evenly matched, but Wettschurack proved to have just a bit more, winning 7-5, 6-3. "The kid's a good player," Orban said about Hinen, who advanced to the Final Eight at last year's individual state tournament. "He beat Kyle last year, pretty soundly at the sectional. Kyle's worked extremely hard this year. His game has improved. He's easy to coach, because I tell him what to do and he has the ability to just go out there and perform. It's been a long time since I've had a kid with that ability." And what's he improved on? "It's his power game," Orban said. "He's got huge power. His serves were off a little tonight, but with one small correction, we'll get that fixed at practice. His ground strokes (are also improved). When he stays down on the ball, he can put that ball within six inches of either line." Following Wettschurack's win, the only drama was whether or not Warsaw would get the sweep, which it did when Jansen claimed a 6-3 third-set win. "It sends a message," Orban said about the 5-0 victory. "I'm all about sectional and regional. Northern Lakes Conference is important, but the postseason is everything to me. We wanted to send this message, loud and clear, very early — we're here to win." And with six of the seven varsity positions back from last year's team, Orban has high hopes for this group. "We're extremely deep and we're good," he said. "The kids don't realize just how good they can be just yet. I think this (win) will go a long ways toward that. The match against Mishawaka Marian Monday will be huge. The team that came back worked really hard all summer long. They played a lot of tournaments, took a lot of private lessons. We worked on specific weaknesses and those weaknesses just aren't there anymore."
