Olivia Wallin of Warsaw returns a shot to Wawasee during the one doubles match Thursday afternoon. (Photos by Mike Deak)
Sports Editor
mdeak@the-papers.com
There was little doubt the better team Thursday night as Warsaw cruised to a 4-1 win over Wawasee in the annual Northern Lakes Conference girls tennis showdown at the Tiger tennis courts.
Jumping out to a fast 2-0 lead after just under an hour, Warsaw put itself in perfect position to move its NLC record to 4-0. Three singles went to Jacqueline Sasso, claiming one of the quick wins 6-1, 6-0 over Samantha Klinge while the one doubles tandem of Lindsay Sciarra and Olivia Wallin high-fived their way to a love and love blitz of Karla Allen and Mia Hauser.
Warsaw clinched the win just minutes after the one doubles win, where Sarah Hartle stayed cooled and collected in her game against one singles foe Katy Ashpole. Hartle worked all four quad of Ashpole’s side of the net and corralled a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
“On nights like this, you have to play your tennis and not your opponent’s tennis,” began Warsaw head coach Rick Orban. “With the wind as a factor, then you have to really concentrate on it. That was the main focus of our warmups.”
Warsaw picked up its fourth win moments later when the two doubles team of Rachel Alexander and Mattie Doran put away Samantha Prins and Laura Romar 6-4, 6-4 in what amounted a rather competitive match.
The final scoring of the match went to Wawasee, scoring a rare court win. A 6-3, 6-3 win by Morgan Geer against Sarah Boyle was just the fifth court win for the Lady Warriors versus Warsaw in the past five seasons during regular season play.
Warsaw’s lopsided dominance in the county rivalry has been prolific, as Warsaw has lost just eight courts to Wawasee in the past 10 years of regular season play, which the Lady Tigers have won all 10 matches. Warsaw has also won the past 11 sectional titles, and in each case, has eliminated Wawasee from the tournament during each title run.
“Our singles girls can definitely keep up with them,” said Wawasee coach Jenessa Jergensen. “We just need to work more with doubles. Working on volleys, placement and not hitting to their net players. Their girls were looking so good at the net. That is because we were not making smart decisions. We definitely need to strengthen doubles if we want to compete with them.”
With the win, Warsaw moves to 5-3 this season as well as remaining undefeated in the NLC. Wawasee falls to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the NLC.