CULVER — The Lady Tigers were facing an unknown quantity in Rochester at Tuesday’s Culver Girls Academy Regional semifinals. The defending champs know exactly what to expect in the championship round.

Warsaw earned wins at all positions in its CGA Regional opener with the Zebras, while Northern Lakes Conference-rival Plymouth did the same opposite Manchester on the other five courts at the Gable Tennis Complex, setting the stage for a rematch of last season’s regional finale Wednesday.

“What Plymouth always brings is the mental toughness: Their kids never give up,” said Warsaw head coach Rick Orban. “I don’t care if you beat them 6-0 the first set, and you’re up 5-0 the second set. You’d better start worrying because they just don’t give up. I love the attitude of the team, have total respect for Plymouth, for Brad (Haeck), the coach, and they’re a really good team. I think our match-ups are pretty good with them, but we’ve got to play in order to win it.”

While the Tigers knew little about their opponents heading into Tuesday’s semifinal, it didn’t appear to slow them down much, if at all.

Warsaw’s doubles pairs were off first, as Athena Schlitt and Colette Smith put away Arrianah Jacobs and Rosalie Navarro in two quick, 6-0 sets at one doubles, and Rachel Boyle and Rachel Herendeen topped Grace Daake and Clair Dunwoody, 6-2, 6-0 at the two doubles position.

Liza Lewis’ 6-1, 6-1 victory over Zoe Bixler at one singles made the two and three singles matches mostly academic. It took Warsaw less than an hour to secure their berth back at the regional finals, and the only scouting the Tigers needed came during Tuesday’s warm-ups.

“Watched during the warm-ups, made sure the girls hit forehands, backhands during the warm-ups, tried to pick out some weaknesses and talked to the girls about that before the match started. That’s pretty much how I coach,” explained Orban.

Alyssa Zellers wrapped next, finishing off Abbie McCarter, 6-0, 6-2 at three singles, leaving Ella Knight alone on the two doubles court.

Knight dropped her first set with Allie Bickle 6-4, and Orban speculated it may have had something to do with some new faces in the gallery at the Gable facility. Despite a bumpy start, the sophomore eventually settled in, coasting to 6-1 and 6-0 wins in the second and third sets to give her team the clean sweep.

“Ella has played so strong. There was a coach here looking at her from college, a couple of relatives that haven’t been here before, and I think she was just nervous that first set,” said Orban. “So I just looked at her, and I said ‘OK, play your game. It’s time to just play your game.’ Six-one, six-oh. That’s her game.”

Interestingly, the only other match to go three sets Tuesday was the two singles contest in the other semifinal, where Plymouth’s Erin Hunter overcame her own opening-set loss versus Kelsey Eichenauer to complete the Pilgrims’ own sweep, 3-6, 7-5(4), 6-0.

Lanae Singleton defeated Karly Eichenauer 2-2 at one singles, Ashley Harrell beat Leiah Brandenburg 1-1 at three singles, Kendall Dreibelbis and McKenzie Scheetz topped Lauren Metzger and Bethany Collett, 0-1 at one doubs, and Cortni Cook and Leah Smith downed Kendra Auler and Lydia Little 1-0 at two doubs.

As NLC rivals as well as last year’s CGA Regional championship combatants, the Tigers and the Pilgrims know one another well.

Plymouth got the better of Warsaw, 3-2, the last time the two teams faced off all the way back in week three of the season, but that was a long time ago and a different lineup than the one the Tigers currently field as Herendeen and Boyle have since moved into the one doubles slot for Warsaw.

Besides, the Pilgrims handed the Tigers a 4-1 defeat in last year’s regular-season match before Warsaw claimed a 3-2 reprisal in their regional meeting, and Orban is hoping for a similar reversal of fortune at this year’s championship.

“Last year they beat us 4-1, and we were able to come back and beat them at the regional. This year they beat us 3-2,” Orban recalled. “If we come to really play, I think it’s going to be a great match. I like our match-ups. A slightly different lineup than we had the first time we played them. All of our injuries are gone right now, so that’s a good thing. It’s just going to be a fun match tomorrow night.”