Delta put up a good fight at three different positions against one of the state’s top teams on Wednesday evening, but in the end Westfield emerged with a 5-0 victory for the Noblesville Regional championship.
Of the 16 schools remaining in the IHSAA tournament, No. 4 Westfield, No. 1 Brebeuf and No. 3 Jasper are the three most likely to finish as state champion. (Brebeuf beat No. 2 Carmel 3-2 yesterday.)
The closest position in the regional championship came at No. 1 doubles, where senior Kelsey Vest and junior Kate Manor lost in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6. They finished their season with a 22-4 record and will likely be All-State Doubles for the second straight year together.
The Eagles made runs at two other positions, also.
At No. 2 doubles, junior Rowan Hinds and sophomore Alexa Bratton lost 4-6, 1-6. The Westfield head coach commented right after that match ended that the action on the court was much closer than the final score indicated. Rowan finished 21-4 and Alexa 20-4. Rowan and Alexa had won the first three rounds of the postseason 6-0, 6-0 in every match.
And at No. 2 singles, senior Brylee Beckley made a run to get her match close as well. After dropping the first set 1-6, she battled back in the second set and got the score to 4-5 before falling 4-6.
Westfield was dominant at No. 1 and No. 3 singles with the Grilliot sisters, Alexandra and Juliet. Alexandra plays No. 1 now. Juliet played No. 1 two years ago, then played No. 2 last year, and now is at No. 3 which is indicative of how much the Westfield talent pool has grown.
16th-ranked Delta was able to win 22 games in the match. For comparison, here’s how Westfield has done against many other state-ranked teams:
> 5th-ranked Park Tudor got 27 games
> 8th-ranked Zionsville got 21 games
> 22nd -ranked North Central got 17 games
> 23rd-ranked Avon got 13 games
> 26th-ranked Lafayette Harrison got 13 games
> 27th-ranked Brownsburg got 14 games
> 28th-ranked Lake Central got 9 games
In the end, the 2025 season will go down as a big success for the Eagles. The team finished 20-3 and regained the Hoosier Heritage Conference title from 20th-ranked Mt. Vernon. The Eagles also won their 14th straight sectional title and placed first in the Crawfordsville Invitational on the same day the JV team placed first in the Plymouth Invitational.
The Eagles collected victories over four state-ranked teams: Center Grove, Homestead, Franklin and Mt. Vernon. (Center Grove and Homestead each are still alive among the final 16 teams.)
SmashCancer raised a record total of $23,500 for local cancer beneficiaries and had a record number of honorary Server Survivors. Teacher Appreciation Day honored about 30 special educators.
All 38 players on the team competed in at least 8 matches.
The varsity team made Team Academic All-State. To do this, the varsity players must have a combined GPA of 3.6 or higher. Delta’s eight varsity players of Elizabeth Bamidele, Beckley, Olivia Marshall, Stella Sieber, Vest, Manor, Hinds and Bratton combined for a 3.91 GPA!
Beckley also earned Individual Academic All-State, a difficult honor which requires a GPA or at least 3.8 and an SAT of at least 1280.
Vest and Beckley each have been chosen as Indiana Senior All-Stars and will compete in the North-South All-Star match on Sunday, June 15.
Bamidele won 15 matches in her first season at No. 1 singles. All nine of her losses were to highly regarded players.
Beckley finished with a 20-5 record and 67 career wins.
Marshall finished with an 18-3 record in her first varsity season while Sieber went 7-0 in her first varsity season after missing all last year with an injury. Collectively, No. 3 singles was the team’s very best position as far as record with only three losses at that spot for the season.
Stay tuned for information on the postseason banquet and summer plans!