Warsaw Netters Blank Lady SquiresCULVER – With all eyes on their match, Warsaw’s No. 2 doubles team of juniors Rachel Yeager and Raegan Merchant rallied to win a three-set thriller in Tuesday’s regional semifinals at Culver Academies.
With the Lady Tigers having already defeated Manchester on the other four courts, Yeager and Merchant beat sophomore Rebekah Pyle and senior Lauren Metzger 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to complete the sweep.
After falling in the first set, Yeager and Merchant trailed 4-3 in the second before winning the next three games.
Pyle and Metzger led 3-2 in the decisive set, but Warsaw’s duo won four of the next five games to put an exclamation on the Lady Tigers’ 5-0 win.
“Those two have quite a little win streak going,” Warsaw coach Rick Orban said of Yeager and Merchant. “It was toward the end of the regular season when I decided on a doubles lineup, and they just keep winning.
“But it’s like in the first set they go ‘oh well.’ I’m telling you, they’ve lost almost all of their first sets, and then they come back to win the match. They have a lot of confidence ... they trust each other, they like each other. When you have that in a doubles match it tends to come out toward the end. After the second set, they looked at me and said ‘don’t worry Coach, we got it.’ And you love that, because it means they believe they do.
“In tennis, the mental game is so important. I’m very proud of them.”
Warsaw improved to 15-3, while the Lady Squires ended their season with a record 13-5.
The Lady Tigers will play conference rival Plymouth, a 5-0 winner over Culver Academies in Tuesday’s other semifinal, tonight at 5 p.m.
Warsaw beat Plymouth 3-2 in last year’s regional final, and topped the Lady Pilgrims by the same score during their regular season match on April 17, a match that was played indoors at Warsaw Tennis and Fitness Center because of the weather.
“I know we’re gonna have to come to play, because I know Plymouth is gonna come to play,” said Orban. “Plymouth is always tough. They come to win, it’s just that simple. We’re the two-time defending champs, so I’d sure like to see a three-peat. We’ll come ready to play, but so will Plymouth. It ought to be a great match.”
The Lady Tigers’ three wins over Plymouth in the regular season match came from seniors Liza Lewis and Ella Knight, and sophomore Alyssa Zellers at the singles positions.
Singles play has definitely been a strength of the Lady Tigers, and it was evident again Tuesday against Manchester.
Over the six sets of singles play, the Lady Squires won just seven games.
Zellers notched Warsaw’s first win, beating Manchester senior Lydia Little 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
Lewis beat Lady Squires junior Kelsey Eichenauer 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
And Knight topped Manchester freshman Halle Briner 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles to score the third team point necessary to advance.
In the No. 1 doubles match, Warsaw sophomore Taylor Shoaf and junior Rachel Boyle beat senior Kendra Auler and Eva Bazzoni 6-4, 6-1.
“It’s impossible to see all the scores from where I was, so (assistant coach) Jan (Orban) was down there and I kept waving at her to get her attention because I couldn’t see all the scores, and finally she gave a thumbs up,” said Orban. “Liza played her normal game. Ella played her normal game. Alyssa played her normal game. When they do that, they are very very tough.
“No. 1 doubles turned it on tonight. They had a rough night last Friday (in the sectional final against Wawasee), and we talked about that. I told them, ‘you can’t make those kind of mental mistakes.’ I kind of challenged them a little bit, and they really rose to the challenge.”
Manchester will graduate three seniors – Little, Auler, Metzger and Erika Kendall.
“I am very proud of this team, not only the seven girls that played tonight but also senior Erika Kendall and the many juniors and other JV players who supported, encouraged and played well all season to improve everyone,” said Manchester coach Joel Eichenauer.
“We’ll really miss our four seniors, but thank them for how they were quality young ladies, as well as winners taking home yet another conference championship and third straight sectional title. This was a fun, positive and multi-talented group of young ladies. It was a pleasure to coach them this year. And our wonderful, supportive parents, grandparents, friends and administrative staff really made us feel surrounded by community. For that, we all say thank you and look foward to another successful season in 2018-19.”
