Mission accomplished.

The 23rd-ranked Delta Eagles visited 16th-ranked Mt. Vernon on Wednesday evening and gained a 3-2 victory. This enabled the Eagles to come home with the Hoosier Heritage Conference traveling trophy, a wooden racket.

For 13 straight years, the Eagles had won the HHC championship in girls’ tennis.  But that ended a year ago when Mt. Vernon went unbeaten in the league and took the trophy from Delta, snapping the Eagles’ 80-match winning streak in league play.  Now, the racket is back home.

Delta dominated at No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles. Senior Brylee Beckley won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 and junior Olivia Marshall won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3.  Both girls controlled their courts by limiting their errors with good shot selection and maintaining solid focus from start to finish.

The decisive third point came at No. 2 doubles.  Junior Rowan Hinds and sophomore Alexa Bratton hung on in a tight first set to pull out a 7-6 victory, winning the tiebreaker 7-5.  Then, they turned up their aggressive play and rolled to a 6-0 victory in the second set.

Mt. Vernon won the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles positions by identical scores of 6-4, 6-3.

At No. 1 singles, junior Elizabeth Bamidele led MV junior Caroline Allen in the opening set 3-1 and 4-3.  Allen, the top singles player in the conference, was able to rally for a 6-4 win in the opening set and built a 3-0 lead in the second set before Bamidele made a push but came up short.

At No. 1 doubles, senior Kelsey Vest and junior Kate Manor followed a similar script.  They led MV’s senior duo of Kylie Brandes and Lauren Lugo 3-2 but dropped the opening set 4-6.  They then fell into a large 1-5 hole in the second set before rallying to get it back to 3-5, but MV closed out the match in the next game.

Delta improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the league.  Mt. Vernon is now 5-2 and 1-1 in league play.  The Marauders own a 5-0 shutout win over 24th-ranked Franklin this season as well as a 3-2 victory over 21st-ranked Terre Haute South and a 2-3 loss to 12th-ranked Center Grove.

In JV action, Mt. Vernon collected a 10-7 victory.

Delta swept the top three singles positions as junior Stella Sieber won 8-2, junior Tru Swoboda came from behind to win 8-6, and freshman Maddi Cox won 8-4.

The top doubles team of sophomore Addy Anderson and freshman Avery Gray won 8-4.

Other winners in doubles were Maggie Ratts/Maddy Polito, Mackemzie Lipps/Ilicia Ritter, and Addisen Condie/Izzy Posey.

Next up for Delta is a home match today (Thursday) against unbeaten Alexandria (8-0).  This will be Teacher Appreciation Day as each Eagle honors a special teacher.  The ceremony begins at 4 p.m. at the tennis shelter, with the match to follow.  The teams will play a format of four varsity singles matches and three varsity doubles courts plus full JV action.

Complete results

Varsity
DELTA 3, MT. VERNON 2

Varsity Singles

1. Elizabeth Bamidele (D) lost to Allen, 4-6, 3-6
2. Brylee Beckley (D) def. Joubert, 6-1, 6-0
3. Olivia Marshall (D) def. Spalding, 6-0, 6-0

Varsity Doubles

1. Kelsey Vest/Kate Manor (D) lost to Brandes/Lugo, 4-6, 3-6
2. Rowan Hinds/Alexa Bratton (D) def. Koon/Zhu, 7-6 (5), 6-0

JV
DELTA 7, MT. VERNON 10

JV Singles

1. Stella Sieber won 8-2
2. Tru Swoboda won 8-6
3. Maddi Cox won 8-4
4. Katelynn Preston lost 1-8

JV Doubles

1. Addy Anderson/Avery Gray won 8-4
2. Marley Dowling/Ella Marcum lost 6-8
3. Audrey Anderson/Mylee Jones lost 3-8
4. Maggie Ratts/Maddy Polito won 6-3
5. Avery Barnes/Sammi Raleigh lost 0-6
6. Mackemzie Lipps/Ilicia Ritter won 8-4
7. Chloe Oliver/Noelle Longsworth lost 0-8
8. Blaysha Downing/Karlie Obenski lost 8-9
9. Addisen Condie/Izzy Posey won 8-7
10. Shayla Stine/Ryanne Evans-Bales lost 0-6
11. Kinley Meekin/Avery Ayres lost 1-8
12. Emma Lyons/Selah Plummer lost 3-6
13. Callie Stotler/Emily McElyea lost 0-6