Delta Tennis traveled two hours in different directions Saturday but came back with first-place finishes in the varsity Crawfordsville Invitational and the JV Plymouth Invitational. There were eight teams in both tournaments.
It was the first time in the past decade that the varsity has won the Crawfordsville tournament (although in 2021 the Eagles were leading when the final round was rained out). It was the first time the JV has ever won the Plymouth Invite after several rainouts and runner-up finishes.
It was a special day as the Eagle varsity and JV teams combined to win five of the 10 flights and finish runner-up in three other flights. Altogether they won 27 singles and doubles matches and lost only 8.
The flight champions included one senior, four juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. The flight runners-up were one senior and two juniors.
And Delta, with an enrollment of about 800 students, did it against some big schools. The average enrollment of the opponents in the varsity invite was 2,210, while the average enrollment of the schools in the JV tournament was 1,345.
The final team standings in the varsity event at Crawfordsville:
1 (tie). Delta 43
1 (tie). Lake Central 43
3 Terre Haute North 23
4 Warren Central 19
5 McCutcheon 18
6 Crawfordsville 16
7 Bloomington North 11
8 Noblesville 6
The final team standings in the JV event at Plymouth:
1 Delta 33
2 Chesterton 30
3 Plymouth 25
4 Goshen 21
5 Bremen 16
6 Blackhawk Christian 10
7 Kokomo 9
8 Portage 1
In the varsity tournament, the Eagles made their biggest noise in the doubles flights. Senior Kelsey Vest and junior Katie Manor went 3-0 for first place at No. 1 doubles with victories over McCutcheon, Terre Haute North and Lake Central. They dropped only seven games in the three matches.
At No. 2 doubles, junior Rowan Hinds and sophomore Alexa Bratton also went 3-0 for first place with wins over Lake Central, Terre Haute North and Crawfordsville. They won 30 games and lost just 12.
All three varsity singles players went 2-1 on the day in chilly, breezy conditions.
At No. 1 singles, junior Elizabeth Bamidele faced an amazing player in round one. Samaya Smith of Warren Central is a 4-star recruit and is one of the top few players in the state this year. Elizabeth competed hard from start to finish and took Smith to deuce in four of the 12 games but lost 0-6, 0-6. In her other two matches, Elizabeth beat Noblesville 6-1, 6-1 and beat Bloomington North 6-0, 6-0.
At No. 2 singles, senior Brylee Beckley opened with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Terre Haute North, then beat Warren Central 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals. She lost 5-7, 3-6 to Lake Central in the championship match.
At No. 3 singles, junior Olivia Marshall won the opener 6-0, 6-0 over Noblesville, then beat Terre Haute North 7-5, 6-0 in the semis. She lost in the finals to Lake Central, 6-7, 3-6.
Junior Stella Sieber went 2-0 in her extra matches at the varsity invite, while senior Mackemzie Lipps went 0-2.
The JV Eagles won three of five flights to take first place in the Plymouth JV Invitational on a chilly and breezy Saturday at Centennial Park under the leadership of coach Jacob Brewer.
Freshman Maddi Cox at No. 2 singles and freshman Avery Gray at No. 3 singles were flight champions. The Eagles also won the No. 2 doubles flight with juniors Audrey Anderson and Ella Marcum and sophomore Mylee Jones each winning two matches in that flight. Ella also won an extra singles match.
Maddi Cox was dominant at No. 2 singles with wins over Kokomo, Bremen and Plymouth. She dropped only three games on the day.
Avery Gray cruised in her first two matches at No. 3 singles where she beat Portage and Bremen. In the finals against Chesterton, she pulled out a first-set tiebreak with many scrappy defensive saves and then pulled away for a bigger win in the second set.
The three Eagles at No. 2 doubles beat Goshen, Chesterton and Plymouth in dominant fashion, dropping only five games. However, the semifinal win over Chesterton, which was vital to the team title, was not easy as one of the Chesterton girls had a rocket forehand that had to be neutralized.
Junior Tru Swoboda was runner-up at No. 1 singles with a 2-1 record. She beat Blackhawk Christian and Goshen before falling to Chesterton in the finals.
Junior Marley Dowling and sophomore Addy Anderson placed fifth at No. 1 doubles. They dropped their opening match to eventual flight champ Chesterton, then won twice in the backdraw over Kokomo and Bremen.
Afterward the varsity girls celebrated with dinner at Cracker Barrel and ice cream at Dari-licious in Crawfordsville. The JV girls celebrated at Dairy Queen in Plymouth.
Next up for Delta is the team’s longest home stretch of the season:
Monday, April 28 — home vs New Castle
Wednesday, April 30 — home vs Muncie Burris
Thursday, May 1 — home vs New Palestine
Saturday, May 3 — home varsity invite (8 teams, including five ranked teams)
Tuesday, May 6 — home for SmashCancer vs Yorktown.