The opening match of the Warsaw Sectional went about as planned for the Columbia City and Wawasee girls tennis teams. Team-wise, Columbia City got the 4-1 victory, moving on to today’s semifinal against Whitko, while Wawasee senior Katy Ashpole won at No. 1 singles, moving on as an individual. In the tennis postseason, victorius No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles players move on as individuals despite a team loss. For Ashpole, she’ll be off until next week’s individual sectional at Culver Academies, and she didn’t have much trouble Wednesday in defeating Columbia City junior Rachel Flauding 6-1, 6-1. “Based on the record I saw of them, I didn’t think Katy would have any trouble today,” Wawasee coach Christine Winters said. Despite the Lady Warriors finishing their season at 3-10, Ashpole has had her moments this season, with the latest earning her an advancement in the postseason. “Katy’s been successful this year, because she’s believed she can beat her opponent,” Winters said. Unfortunately for Wawasee, Ashpole was the team’s lone bright spot. Ashpole was the only Lady Warrior to win a set, and junior Chelsea Carolus was the only other girl to come close, losing a first-set tiebreaker 7-2 at No. 3 singles. In the semifinals, Columbia City will face a Whitko team it downed 4-1 on May 9 in South Whitley. Thursday’s other semifinal will feature 13-time defending champion Warsaw against Tippecanoe Valley. With Warsaw and Columbia City entering the semifinals as heavy favorites, a rematch between the two teams looms in the 4:30 p.m. championship match on Friday. After defeating Columbia City 3-2 in the opening match of last year’s sectional, Warsaw once again got a 3-2 victory over the Lady Eagles in their opening match of season on April 17. In the season opener at the Tiger Courts, Columbia City got its two wins on the doubles courts, which has been a theme this year. “My doubles is what’s really carried us this year,” Columbia City coach Katie Myers said. “My No. 1 doubles (junior Macie Hinen/senior Sydney Ford) is 17-1 and No. 2 (juniors Cassie Bosselman/Bayley Smith) is 15-3. So, that just means we have to get a win at singles, somewhere. Some days are trickier than others, but my singles played well tonight.” Against Warsaw, those singles players struggled, failing to win a set and posting just seven game victories. However, Smith is banking on improvement over the course of the season to knock Warsaw off. “We’ve seen improvement at the singles positions since we played them at the beginning of the season,” she said. “We just need one win somewhere, as long as our doubles hold their own. Hopefully, we can steal a point somewhere.” For Wawasee, it was another long season, which was only made longer by injuries, as well as other players leaving for various other reasons. “If you look at the beginning of the season and the potential I had, before just a rash of injuries and other stuff – losing five varsity players – it was (a better season),” Winters said. “Record-wise? No, that wasn’t better, but we had more potential this year than we had last year. I am anticipating that flowing into next year.”
COLUMBIA CITY 4, WAWASEE 1 SINGLES: No. 1 – Katy Ashpole (W) def. Rachel Flauding 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 – Aubrey Wright (CC) def. Jada Antonides 6-4, 6-0; No. 3 – Katie Doerhmann (CC) def. Chelsea Carolus 7-6 (7-2), 6-1. DOUBLES: No. 1 – Macie Hinen/Sydney Ford (CC) def. Addison Ayres/Charity Parker 6-2, 6-0; No. 2 – Cassie Bosselman/Bayley Smith (CC) def. Jaclyn Miller/Jazlyn Gehlhausen 6-0, 6-3.
