WARSAW — The Warsaw girls tennis team returned to the courts Thursday night and got right back to its winning ways. The Tigers welcomed in county rival Wawasee and executed a quick 5-0 victory.

The match, which was delayed by the wet weather passing through the area, started briskly as all three singles courts earned wins in straight sets for the Orange and Black. Liza Lewis made quick work of Jazlyn Gehlhausen, 6-0, 6-0. While Colette Smith took a 6-0, 6-0 win over Peyton Rookstool. Ella Knight followed suit after a slightly longer, but still convincing 6-0, 6-0 win over Meg Heinisch.

“I’m extremely pleased with the focus the girls has tonight,” offered Warsaw head coach Rick Orban. “Shane (Staley) is building a program at Wawasee and he’s going to do a great job but his team is extremely young and extremely inexperienced. So, all of the girls had something specific to work on tonight. We wanted them to stay focused. We told them, ‘Don’t play their game, play your game.'”

The message clearly was registered on all five courts, even more so on singles courts. While there was stiffer competition for Hannah Rice and Athena Schlitt at No. 1 doubles, the girls still won in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 over Kabrea Rostochak and Charity Parker. Rostochak and Parker were previously undefeated in Northern Lakes Conference competition.

“No. 1 doubles didn’t come in to tonight’s match the way I thought they would,” said Wawasee coach Shane Staley. “They were undefeated in the NLC and I just thought they would fare a little bit better. But, you’re going to have those off matches.”

The most entertaining match of the evening was undoubtedly at No. 2 doubles where Grace Miller and Rosie Fleming would pull out a win over Courtney Larson and Kendra Doerr.

Miller and Fleming seemed in control with a 6-3 win in the first set but Wawsee’s No. 2 team pushed back for a win by the same score in the second set. The home pair settled in and would take the final set 6-1.

“I was really impressed by our two dubs tonight,” Staley continued. “I think they solidified a varsity slot for themselves. That’s a sophomore and a freshman and that’s what I’m look for in building this program. We’ve also got two freshman on our singles courts and I’m happy to build on that as well.”

Warsaw won the JV contest 9-1.

Wawasee (2-5, 1-3) will play at Manchester Friday night while Warsaw (4-3, 2-1) will play at the Delta Invite on Saturday.