With Rick Orban as coach, Warsaw Community High School's varsity boys tennis team has never lost a Northern Lakes Conference match to rival Wawasee.
The visiting Warriors, who last beat their Kosciusko County counterparts in the 2004 sectional, almost ended a 10-match losing streak to Warsaw Tuesday evening before the Tigers escaped with a 3-2 win.
"I feel so bad for Wawasee," said Orban, whose team improved to 8-2 overall and 5-0 in NLC play. "They outplayed us. We weren't ready for this match. I really like (Wawasee coach) Roger (Brady) a lot. He's a great coach, and he had his kids ready to play. We were flat, just really flat."
Wawasee, which scored point wins at No. 1 singles with Garly Windle and No. 3 singles with David Toerner, fell to 6-6 overall and 1-4 in conference action.
"That's the story of our season," Brady said of his team being close to a conference win but not pulling it out. "We haven't played a match this season we couldn't have won."
At No. 1 singles, Windle defeated Will Anderson 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, while Toerner had an easier time in beating Evan Miller 6-4, 6-0.
Already up one set, Windle had a 4-1 lead in the second set before Anderson mounted a comeback that forced a third set.
In the third set, Anderson trailed 5-2 before putting together a rally that left him just short of another team point for the Tigers.
"At No. 1 singles, Will should have won that match," said Orban. "He wanted to do things his way, and by the time he started playing smart tennis, it was too late."
Warsaw's lone win in singles play came from freshman Brenton Reyner who beat Nathan Brady 6-4, 0-6, 6-3, giving Brady his first loss of the season.
"The loss at No. 2 singles is very disappointing," said the Wawasee coach, Brady's father. "We have kids that try hard, we just made too many errors. Nathan had too many unforced errors. Credit Warsaw's kid, he's the most consistent kid Nathan has played all year."
Said Orban, "I'm so proud of Brenton. Nathan Brady is a good player. Brenton is a freshman, and I told him he had to win that match for us to win. That's a lot of pressure for a freshman, but he came through. He's a freshman, but he's very tough mentally. I'm very proud of him."
In No. 1 doubles action, the match that gave the Tigers a third team point and match victory, Keaton Joyner and Scott Campbell defeated Nick Price and Westin Becker 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.
And at No. 2 doubles, the first match that was completed, Warsaw's Nick Shoemaker and A.J. Herendeen upended Derek Zurcher and Cole Love 6-0, 6-3.
Warsaw is in action again Thursday when it travels to Nappanee to play NorthWood, while Wawasee hosts Elkhart Memorial Thursday.
WARSAW 3, WAWASEE 2
SINGLES: No. 1 - Garly Windle (Wawa) def. Will Anderson 6-1, 5-7, 7-5; No. 2 - Brenton Reyner (War) def. Nathan Brady 6-4, 0-6, 6-3; No. 3 - David Toerner (Wawa) def. Evan Miller 6-4, 6-0
DOUBLES: No. 1 - Keaton Joyner/Scott Campbell (War) def. Nick Price/Westin Becker 6-7, 7-6, 6-1; No. 2 - Nick Shoemaker/A.J. Herendeen (War) def. Derek Zurcher/Cole Love 6-0, 6-3
