Warsaw tennis celebrated a sectional championship after a 3-2 win over Wawasee in the sectional final Saturday, Oct. 3. Photo by Nathan Pace.

WARSAW – Hosting its own sectional, Warsaw and Wawasee played a tight one where Warsaw had to dig deep for a sectional championship Saturday, Oct. 3. The No. 2 doubles team of Hudson Victa and Jase Swanson lost their first set but took the next two. Their 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win was the decider in Warsaw’s 3-2 win for the title.

“It shows a lot from my boys. Being able to play hard today and walk away with this championship,” coach Stacy Lind said. “Wawasee came out here ready to play hard and that’s what they did. Luckily, our boys were able to hunker down and pull off the win today.”

Henry Norton and Ian Overman took the top two singles matches for Warsaw.

Warsaw won a 3-2 match in the regular season against Wawasee but the Warriors felt they could have won Saturday. Colin Hackleman won his match at No. 3 singles match 7-5, 7-5.

Kyhan Heisler and Kam Meerzo had a chance to give Wawasee its second sectional title in three seasons but the final two sets of their doubles match went in favor of Warsaw.

“The No. 2 doubles, they beat Warsaw in the regular season and they won the first set and I’m not exactly sure what happened,” coach Vince Rhodes said. “I think they started playing scared instead of playing to win. They stopped moving. Colin, he played a great match for us. Won the three spot for us. Should have won the two doubles. They’ve only played two years and that’s the inexperience of playing under pressure. That definitely makes a big difference.”

Wawasee did have its No. 1 doubles team advance in Jack Shoemaker and Camden Reel. They prevailed 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

“Anytime we can advance to the next level it’s great,” Rhodes said. “They got beat their first set and decided to come back and start playing some tennis. That’s what it is all about. They’ve got to be ready to play.”

The Warriors end their team season at 10-10 and Warsaw will compete in the regional Tuesday, Oct. 6, at NorthWood.

“I was hoping we could pull this one off,” Rhodes said. “Our record is 10-10, so .500. The kids had fun. That was our goal for the season.”