WARSAW – Rick Orban knows his team will have to play great tennis Saturday to win a semi state championship.

The Warsaw coach also knows his veteran squad is very capable of doing just that.

The Tigers face No. 19 Penn in the Culver Academies Semistate Saturday at 10 a.m. The winner advances to the quarterfinal match of the State Finals on Oct. 18.

“I know and our kids know that we truly can win this,” said Orban Thursday night. “We truly have an enormous opportunity in front of us. Penn is beatable. I think if we play our best tennis we will win.”

Warsaw, whose only other semi state title came way back in 1987, beat NLC foe Plymouth 3-2 Wednesday night to win the Culver Academies Regional championship. The Tigers won at No. 2 and No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles to edge the Pilgrims in a testy match. Evan Miller won in three sets at No. 3 singles after losing the first set and the No. 2 doubles team of Caleb Ray and Nic Jansen also rallied from a set down to give Warsaw the program’s first regional title since 2007.

The Tigers will need its’ tried and true formula, according to Orban, to beat Penn. Warsaw is led by seniors Kyle Wettschurack and Miller at No. 2 and 3 singles and juniors Ray and  Jansen at No. 2 doubles.

“Our kids know what it’s going to take to beat Penn,” Orban said. “We talked about it at practice Thursday. It’s the exact same formula for us.”

“I was anxious to get to practice today (Thursday) and I was thrilled with the kids’ reaction. They thought they did not play well Wednesday night. I was thrilled to hear them say that. I don’t think that shook their confidence. I think it made it stronger. I know that Kyle and Evan really want this.”

Warsaw junior Sam Rice at No. 1 singles and its’ No. 1 doubles team of seniors Will Petro and Nikos Schlitt face huge challenges Saturday.

Penn improved to 20-3 by beating No. 21 South Bend St. Joseph 3-2 Wednesday night to win the championship of the Portage Regional. The Kingsmen got wins from standout Michael Yang at No. 1, Stewart Feeley at No. 3 and its’ outstanding No. 1 doubles team of Sean Anderson and Aidan Koch to beat the Indians for the second time this season. Feeley, who had to default his regional semifinal match Tuesday night due to injury, rallied for a 5-2 deficit in the third set to claim the clinching point with his 7-5 win.

The Kingsmen do own a 4-1 win over the Tigers at Warsaw back on Sept. 16. Penn has the same exact lineup in place as then. The Tigers have just Rice (No. 1 singles) and Miller (No. 3 singles) in the same spots in their lineup.   Miller collected the lone point in the first meeting with Penn with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Feeley. The Kingsmen beat Warsaw in straight sets at all four of the other positions, including a 6-0, 6-2 win by Yang at No. 1.

“We have a much stronger lineup now than the first time we played Penn,” said Orban, whose team has been helped tremendously by the return of Ray from a fractured wrist. “We have to come out firing from the start on Saturday.

“The pressure’s off us. Nobody expected us to beat Culver Academies in the regional (semifinals) and no one expects us to beat Penn. Realistically though, we can win this.”

Warsaw has lost to Penn, St. Joseph, Crown Point,  Culver Academies and Concord this season. None of those losses, however, came with the Tigers’ current lineup.

Penn, who is coached by former NorthWood player Eric Bowers, has won three semi state championships. The Kingsmen last won a semi state title in 2011. Penn has lost to No. 4 Fort Wayne Canterbury, No. 16 Crown Point and No. 25 Marion this fall.

The Kingsmen lineup is junior Yang at No. 1, junior Jacob Macri at No. 2 and freshman Feeley at No. 3. Seniors Anderson and Koch play No. 1 doubles and freshman Mason Lee and junior Brendan Butler are at No. 2 doubles.

The winner of the Warsaw-Penn match advances to play in the quarterfinals of the State Finals on Oct. 18 at Fishers High School at 3 p.m. The semi state champion will face either No. 7 Columbus North (19-0) or No. 6 Evansville Memorial (17-0). North faces Memorial Saturday in the Jasper Semistate.

The other semi state match Saturday at Culver Academies at 10 a.m. will pit No. 1 Carmel (21-1) versus Munster (17-4). Carmel has won eight state championships, the second most in state history, including three in a row in 2010, 2011 and 2012.