The Eagles took command of the Hoosier Heritage Conference girls’ tennis race with an impressive 4-0 shutout of previously unbeaten New Palestine on Thursday evening.
Delta owns a 4-0 conference record with matches remaining against Yorktown, Pendleton Heights and Shelbyville.
The final court was rained out. That was a nip-and-tuck matchup between the two best No. 3 singles players in the conference. Delta junior Olivia Marshall held a 4-3 lead in the third set over New Pal senior Kaitlyn Mitchell when the rain ended the match.
Prior to that, 20th-ranked Delta (6-1 overall) dominated most of the courts against New Pal (also 6-1 overall).
The doubles teams of Kelsey Vest/Kate Manor and Rowan Hinds/Alexa Bratton secured the Eagles’ first two points, both by 6-0, 6-1 scores. Vest and Manor played perhaps their best match of the season with very aggressive net play. Hinds and Bratton also continued their winning streak that now stands at eight straight matches.
No. 2 singles senior Brylee Beckley then sealed the team win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over senior Bethany Blachly.
No. 1 singles junior Elizabeth Bamidele followed quickly by pulling away for a 6-4, 6-1 victory over sophomore Arabella Deisher.
At No. 3 singles, New Pal won the opening set 6-2, but Marshall rallied for a 6-2 win in the second set. The third set was back and forth with Marshall gaining a 4-3 lead before the rain.
In JV action, Delta won most courts that finished before the rain.
Stella Sieber, Tru Swoboda and Maddi Cox won in singles. Cox rallied from an 0-3 hole to win 6-4.
Anna Marcum and Addy Anderson won 7-6 (5) at No. 1 doubles. Marley Dowling and Avery Gray also won at No. 2 doubles.
Several other matches were in progress.
Next up for Delta is the Delta Invitational on Saturday. This is an 8-team varsity tournament at Delta and Yorktown sites. The tournament features four state-ranked teams.
The Eagles will open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday against Kokomo, then will play the winner of 13th-ranked FW Carroll and 27th-ranked Lake Central. Other ranked teams in the tourney include Delta and Indianapolis Bishop Chatard, who are tied for 20th. The tourney also includes Hamilton Southeastern, Greenfield Central and Muncie Burris.