The opening round of the boys tennis sectional at Warsaw Community High School was completed Wednesday, with Warsaw and Wawasee breezing to 5-0 victories, setting up their championship match today.
Wawasee completed its 5-0 win over Churubusco in less than an hour, while Warsaw's 5-0 win over Tippecanoe Valley took a little longer.With all the courts cleared, Warsaw senior Will Anderson had trouble with Valley sophomore Nick Kindig in the second set after winning the first 6-2.
"(Kindig) has a really nice first serve - an inside-out serve," Warsaw coach Rick Orban said. "I think it took Will a while to get used to it."
In fact, it took Anderson to the brink of a second set loss to get used to it.
Falling behind 5-4 in the set, Anderson fought back to take a 6-5 lead and had two match points in the 12th game, but Kindig came back to take the game and tie the set at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Anderson once again looked in control with a 6-4 lead, but Kindig made things tough, drawing within 6-5. However, the tight match ended unceremoniously with a double-fault by Kindig, handing the win to Anderson.
"We figured we'd be the better of the two teams," Orban said. "I just wanted the kids to stay really, really focused. Didn't want any let downs."
And there weren't many let downs, as the Tigers lost just four games on the other four courts, setting up today's championship match with Wawasee at 4:30 p.m.
The two teams met up in Warsaw on Sept. 14, with the Tigers taking a tight 3-2 victory.
"The guys are looking forward to it," Wawasee coach Roger Brady said. "There's no guarantees. It was 3-2 last time with three three-set matches. Who knows? We're just going to do the very best that we can."
Playing against a Churubusco team with one senior, three sophomores and three freshmen, Wawasee had no problems in the semifinals, dropping just three games.
"This was our practice for tomorrow," Brady said. "I'm not taking anything away from Churubusco. They're a young team and they're really struggling. We knew that, but this match had to count, because we don't have anymore practices to get ready."
Today's match will be the sixth time in the past seven years that Wawasee and Warsaw have met in the sectional. Of those six times, four will have been in the finals, with Wawasee's last win coming in 2004.
"We don't have to be motivated to beat Warsaw," Brady said. "There's not an animosity or anything, it's just a team you want to beat. It's a rivalry."
Despite owning a decided advantage in the series, the 3-2 victory in the regular season has put the Tigers on alert.
"We're kind of excited about (tonight)," Orban said. "It's going to be an interesting matchup. We beat them 3-2 earlier in the season, but last Saturday (at the Northern Lakes Conference Championships), their No. 1 doubles beat us, which we won in the earlier match. So, we're going to have to come out ready to play."
WARSAW 5, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0
SINGLES
No. 1 - Will Anderson (W) def. Nick Kindig 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
