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It's exactly how a sectional championship should be played. Two even teams, each playing their best tennis, battling in a match that nobody could predict.
Sure, Wawasee had beaten Warsaw at Warsaw in the regular season. But that day, No. 3 singles and both doubles matches went three sets. And Saturday was the sectional, where Warsaw had owned rivals Wawasee, Manchester, Valley and Whitko in the past.
And the Warriors came through in the clutch, winning their first sectional title in school history by defeating Warsaw 4-1.
"This means a lot," Wawasee head coach Phil Mishler said. "It's been 30 years since the high school was formed. The girls worked hard all summer and winter."
But before either Warsaw or Wawasee could get to the finals, they had to get past opponents earlier in the day. And both did that with relative ease.
Wawasee upended Valley 5-0 while Warsaw beat Whitko 4-1. All 10 matches went just two sets and both teams were off the courts in less than two hours, which gave them both the chance to get plenty of rest before the sectional championship.
"It was pretty important (to get done quickly)," Warsaw head coach Jeannie Glunt said. "We just wanted to play, fundamentally, as well as we could."
Warsaw did just that in beating Whitko. At No. 1 singles, the Tigers' Krista Coppes beat Stephanie Moore 6-0, 6-0. At No. 1 doubles, Kim Paczkowski and Brooke Westover lost just two points in the first set and gave Warsaw another win with a 6-0, 6-4 victory. The only match the Tigers lost was a 6-3, 6-2 defeat at No. 2 singles as Aly Frantz beat Aynsley Small. But at least Small got off the court quickly for a chance to rest before battling with Wawasee.
"This afternoon's match is going to be a tough one," Glunt said after her Tigers finished off Whitko. "These girls are confident though."
Wawasee won even easier than Warsaw by never dropping a set in the five matches. Mandy Perzanowski dusted off Valley's Kyleigh Gast 6-0, 6-3 and Kara Mathew beat Abby Lewis 6-2, 6-0. It was a tough way to go down for the Vikings, which finished the season with Valley's best season in years by winning five matches.
"We were just happy to win," Mishler said following the win over the Vikings. "Valley's a decent team."
Those two victories set up the finals. Wawasee was the upstart team, the one that had beaten Warsaw earlier and was looking for its first sectional championship. Warsaw was the old favorite, the defending sectional champions with the experience and savvy needed. Mishler had claimed for the past two weeks that Warsaw would be the favorite until his Warriors could actually win a sectional championship.
"As I've said before, Warsaw is the favorite," Mishler said. "This is their home court. But, if we play our game well, we'll be all right."
Wawasee played its game to perfection. Glunt had talked earlier in the day about how her No. 1 singles player, Coppes, had worked all week on a style of play that would give Perzanowski fits.
It didn't work.
Perzanowski disposed of Coppes 6-2, 6-3. The same happened at No. 2 singles, where Mathew beat Small 6-4, 6-3, and at No. 2 doubles, where Steph Shivers and Kim Troup improved to 20-2 on the year with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Abbie Simmons and Kara Kesler.
At No. 1 doubles, Warsaw's Paczkowski and Westover won the first set 6-1, but Kardia Senkspiel and Laura Lundin fought back for a 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) win.
Warsaw's only win was at No. 3 singles. Heather VanPuffelen beat Shanda Bucher 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
"It's nice that it came down to the two best teams in the tournament," Mishler said. "Give Warsaw some credit, they came ready. We feel that this is unchartered territory. Anything past this is a bonus. But we'll take the same approach to the regional. If we play our game well, we'll win."
Whitko ends the season 1-13, while Valley ended 5-10 and Warsaw 8-6. Wawasee improved to 13-4 on the season, the most wins for a team in school history. The Warriors will meet DeKalb today at Northridge High School at 4:30 p.m.
SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
WARSAW 4, WHITKO 1
Singles
No. 1 - Krista Coppes (Warsaw) def. Stephanie Moore 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Aly Frantz (Whitko) def. Aynsley Small 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Heather VanPuffelen (Warsaw) def. Trisha Peters 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - Kim Paczkowski and Brooke Westover (Warsaw) def. Meghan Sautter and Paulette Fisher 6-0, 6-4
No. 2 - Abbie Simmons and Kara Kesler (Warsaw) def. Lisa Menck and Renee Harris 6-2, 6-1
SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
WAWASEE 5, VALLEY 0
Singles
No. 1 - Mandy Perzanowski (Wawasee) def. Kyleigh Gast 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 - Kara Mathew (Wawasee) def. Abby Lewis 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 - Shanda Bucher (Wawasee) def. Leila Anselmo 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 - Kardia Senkspiel and Laura Lundin (Wawasee) def. Bonnie Bickel and Carissa Parker 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 - Steph Shivers and Kim Troup (Wawasee) def. Tiffany Cunningham and Wendy Tilden 6-4, 6-1
SECTIONAL FINALS
WAWASEE 4, WARSAW 1
Singles
No. 1 - Mandy Perzanowski (Wawasee) def. Krista Coppes 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Kara Mathew (Wawasee) def. Aynsley Small 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 - Heather VanPuffelen (Warsaw) def. Shanda Bucher 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles
No. 1 - Kardia Senkspiel and Laura Lundin (Wawasee) def. Kim Paczkowski and Brooke Westover 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2)
No. 2 - Steph Shivers and Kim Troup (Wawasee) def. Abbie Simmons and Kara Kesler 6-1, 6-3
