Warsaw Returns To The Top

Warsaw's girls tennis team celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its last Northern Lakes Conference title in proper fashion, by winning Saturday's NLC Tournament to win the 2001 title.

Now the Tigers only hope winning a title just every 10 years doesn't become a trend.

Ten years have gone by and six coaching changes have taken place in the last seven years, but Warsaw's girls tennis team once again sits atop the Northern Lakes Conference.

After cruising through NLC dual matches with a 6-0 record, Warsaw clinched first place in the NLC by winning the NLC Tournament with 53 points.

The championship came under Joe Beeson, the same coach who guided Warsaw to its last NLC title in 1991. Beeson resigned in 1992 but agreed to return this year to help turn a floundering program around. Since 1991, Warsaw finished as high as second in the NLC once.

Beeson has talent to work with, as Warsaw entered the seven-team tournament seeded either first or second in all three singles and both doubles matches.

Plymouth finished second in NLC dual matches with a 5-1 record, but the Pilgrims had only two top two seeds in the tournament compared to Warsaw's five. The Pilgrims finished a distant second with 37 points, followed by Wawasee with 26, Goshen with 24, Northridge and Concord with 18 and NorthWood with 14.

Wawasee had the most surprising day, as the Warriors went 0-6 in NLC dual matches but jumped to third in the tournament.

"I think the NLC as a whole is not as strong," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said, "but even if the NLC would have been as strong as in the past, Warsaw is very, very talented and would have been tough to beat."

Said Beeson: "This team, it's strength is no other team can look at our lineup and find one spot where we are weak. We are exceptionally well balanced.

"We had some very good teams that went to the semistate every year from 1988 through 1991. This team doesn't rank with those teams yet, but with the young players we have and some young players we will have coming on, we have a nucleus to build the program to where it was then."

Warsaw lived up to its seeds as the Tigers competed in all five championship matches and won three of them.

In the No. 1 singles championship match, Warsaw freshman Jessica Davis, a No. 2. seed, overcame upstart Wawasee No. 4 seed Kate Murphy to win 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In other championship matches, Warsaw's No. 2 doubles team of Angie Suchecki and Tracy Yoder, seeded first, beat Plymouth's Jenny Faulstich and Shannon Gehrke 6-0, 6-3. Faulstich and Gehrke were seeded second.

In the No. 1 doubles match, Warsaw's Kara Kesler and Amber Barrett, seeded second, beat Plymouth's No. 1-seeded team of Lindsay Houin and Jenny Pettibone 6-2, 1-6, 6-0. Houin and Pettibone dominated the second set; Barrett and Kesler responded with a third set that lasted fewer than 15 minutes.

"[Barrett and Kesler] got themselves down in the second set then started playing too fast," Beeson said. "They didn't want to come off the court after that second set and just wanted to go right to the third set, but I made them come off and got them settled down."

Two Warsaw No. 1 seeds advanced to championship matches but lost. In the No. 2 singles championship match, Goshen's Mary Rose Jordan, a No. 2 seed, beat Warsaw's Lauren Witzky 6-4, 7-5. Plymouth No. 3 seed Abby Keiser beat Warsaw freshman Kristi Haddad 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Had Witzky and Haddad played to their seeds, the Tigers would have won all five championship matches.

Murphy had a day to remember as she was the only No. 4 seed to advance to the championship round. She dismantled NorthWood No. 1 seed Jessica Yoder 6-0, 6-4 in the second round then had No. 2 seed Davis reeling in the championship match. After winning the first set 6-0, Murphy took a 3-0 lead in the second set.

As dominating as Murphy had been, playing her best tennis of the year in the first half of the match, the girls switched roles. Davis ruled the second half of the match, winning the second set 6-4 and the last set 6-3.

"It's a credit to Jessica that as a freshman she can have that composure," Mishler said. "She picked her game up. The other thing is, and it's probably my fault, I thought Kate's footwork started dropping. That may have been a lack of conditioning. Blame me for that.

"Kate played the best I have seen her play all year. She worked with [former Wawasee tennis player] Mandy Perzanowski on a drop shot, and that's what paid off against [Yoder]."

Not only did Davis rally to win a match she was well on her way to losing, she rallied despite not feeling 100 percent.

"I have had a cold and have been feeling achy since two days ago," she said. "I was pretty tense down 3-0 in the second set, but I just started having success going down the line on her. She would step in, and once she did that, I could go down the line on her."

Davis is one of the two reasons Mishler says Warsaw fields a strong lineup. The other is Haddad, another freshman.

"Those two freshmen have topped their lineup off," he said. "The two freshmen have been able to move their top lettermen down in the lineup."

NORTHERN LAKES CONFERENCE

TOURNAMENT

Saturday in Warsaw

1. Warsaw 53, 2. Plymouth 37, 3. Wawasee 26, 4. Goshen 24, 5. Concord 18, 5. Northridge 18, 7. NorthWood 14

No. 1 Singles (seeds in parentheses)

(No. 1) Jessica Yoder (NW) vs bye

(No. 4) Kate Murphy (WAW) def. Elizabeth Clark (C) 6-0, 6-1

(No. 3) Robin Braun (G) def. Cari Read (P) 6-0, 7-5

(No. 2) Jessica Davis (WAR) def. Danielle Duell (NR) 6-3, 6-3

Kate Murphy (WAW) def. Jessica Yoder(NW) 6-0, 6-4

Jessica Davis (WAR) def. Robin Braun (G) 7-5, 6-1

Championship: Jessica Davis (WAR) def. Kate Murphy (WAW) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3

Third Place: Jessica Yoder (NW) def. Robin Braun (G) 6-2, 6-1

Consolation: Cari Read (P) def. Danielle Duell (NR) 7-5, 6-2

Fifth Place: Elizabeth Clark (C) def. Cari Read (P) 6-2, 6-4

No. 2 singles

(No. 1) Lauren Witzky (WAR) vs. bye

(No. 4) Kayla Auer (WAW) def. Laela Tahmassebi (C) 6-4, 6-3

(No. 3) Allie Shook (P) def. Jessica McCarthy (NW) 6-4, 6-1

(No. 2) Mary Rose Jordan (G) def. Jessica Herbster (NR) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Lauren Witzky (WAR) def. Kayla Auer (WAW) 6-1, 6-3

Mary Rose Jordan (G) def. Allie Shook (P) 6-1, 7-6(5)

Championship: Mary Rose Jordan (G) def. Lauren Witzky (WAR) 6-4, 7-5

Third Place: Allie Shook (P) def. Kayla Auer (WAW) 6-1, 6-0

Consolation: Jessica Herbster (NR) def. Jessica McCarthy (NW) 6-1, 6-2

Fifth Place: Jessica Herbster (NR) def. Laela Tahmassebi (C) 6-3, 7-5

No. 3 singles

(No. 1) Kristi Haddad (WAR) vs bye

(No. 4) Natalie Stalter (NR) def. Katie Schreck (G) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

(No. 3) Abby Keiser (P) def. Candice Brown (WAW) 6-1, 6-1

(No. 2) Katherine Hinkle (C) def. Chelsey Bowers (NW) 6-4, 6-2

Kristi Haddad (WAR) def. Natalie Stalter (NR) 6-2, 6-2

Abby Keiser (P) def. Katherine Hinkle (C) 6-2, 6-1

Championship: Abby Keiser (P) def. Kristi Haddad (WAR) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

Third Place: Katherine Hinkle (C) def. Natalie Stalter (NR) 6-4, 6-4

Consolation: Chelsey Bowers (NW) def. Candice Brown (WAW) 6-2, 6-3

Fifth Place: Chelsey Bowers (NW) def. Katie Schreck (G) 6-3, 6-4

No. 1 doubles

(No. 1) Lindsay Houin/Jenny Pettibone (P) vs bye

(No. 4) Katie Martin/Allison Miller (C) def. Andrea Atkinson/Nicole Fishburn (NW) 6-3, 6-2

Margo Searfoss/Ashley Ganz (WAW) def. (No. 3) Ali Beier/Laura Carlson (NR) 6-3, 7-5

(No. 2) Kara Kesler/Amber Barrett (WAR) def. Courtney Kennedy/Val Borchelt (G) 6-2, 6-2

Lindsay Houin/Jenny Pettibone (P) def. Katie Martin/Allison Miller (C) 6-0, 6-0

Kara Kesler/Amber Barrett (WAR) def. Margo Searfoss/Ashley Ganz (WAW) 6-0,6-0

Championship: Kara Kesler/Amber Barrett (WAR) def. Lindsay Houin/Jenny Pettibone (P) 6-2, 1-6, 6-0

Third Place: Margo Searfoss/Ashley Ganz (WAW) def. Katie Martin/Allison Miller (C) 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4

Consolation: Ali Beier/Laura Carlson (NR) def. Courtney Kennedy/Val Borchelt(G) 6-4,6-4

Fifth Place: Ali Beier/Laura Carlson (NR) def. Andrea Atkinson/Nicole Fishburn (NW) 6-4, 6-0

No. 2 doubles

(No. 1) Angie Suchecki/Tracy Yoder (WAR) vs. bye

Erin Mueller/Carissa Heacock (G) def. (No. 4) Kesley Davis/Laura Gillam (NW) 7-5, 6-3

(No. 3) Amanda Shoup/Juli Schmidt (NR) def. Staci VanLue/Cara Windle (WAW) 6-2, 6-2

(No. 2) Jenny Faulstich/Shannon Gehrke (P) def. Laura Bibbo/Katie Warner (C) 6-3, 6-4

Angie Suchecki/Tracy Yoder (WAR) def. Erin Mueller/Carissa Heacock (G) 6-1,6-2

Jenny Faulstich/Shannon Gehrke (P) def. Amanda Shoup/Juli Schmidt (NR) 6-3, 7-5

Championship: Angie Suchecki/Tracy Yoder (WAR) def. Jenny Faulstich/Shannon Gehrke (P) 6-0, 6-3

Third Place: Amanda Shoup/Juli Schmidt(NR) def. Erin Mueller/Carissa Heacock (G) 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3

Consolation: Staci VanLue/Cara Windle (WAW) def. Laura Bibbo/Katie Warner (C) 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-4

Fifth Place: Staci VanLue/Cara Windle (WAW) def. Kesley Davis/Laura Gillam (NW) 6-3, 6-4

NLC Regular-Season Standings

1. Warsaw 6-0

2. Plymouth 5-1

3. NorthWood 3-3

3. Northridge 3-3

5. Concord 2-4

5. Goshen 2-4

7. Wawasee 0-6