No Elizabeth Bamidele?
No problem!
Despite missing their No. 1 singles player, the rest of the 20th-ranked Eagles stepped up and knocked off 18th-ranked Homestead 3-2 on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon in Fort Wayne.
The result extended Delta’s winning streak to five in a row and 11 of the last 12 matches.
The Eagles (12-2) also have a win over 16th-ranked Mt. Vernon earlier this season. Their only losses have been to No. 2 Carmel (0-5 score) and 14th-ranked FW Carroll (2-3 score). The Eagles have not been ranked higher than No. 20 yet this season but should move up a spot or two when the new weekly poll is released Monday.
After our April 19 Eagle Round Robin was rained out, we scheduled some makeup matches. Those matches were played Saturday at the 12-court FW Concordia Lutheran tennis complex.
At 10 a.m., shut out FW Bishop Dwenger 5-0 while Homestead blanked Plainfield 5-0.
In the afternoon finals, Delta knocked off Homestead 3-2 to win the championship. Plainfield beat Dwenger 5-0.
Bamidele missed the matches as she was attending her sister Abby’s graduation from Indiana University.
Juniors Olivia Marshall and Stella Sieber faced big challenges and came through in the clutch. Both went 2-0 on the day as they played No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
Marshall, who usually plays No. 3 singles, moved up to No. 2 and celebrated her 17th birthday with two wins. She beat Bishop Dwenger 6-0, 6-0 and then played great defense and showed excellent touch in a gritty 6-3, 6-3 victory over Homestead’s hard-hitting Caroline Meier. Marshall is now 12-2 for the season.
Sieber, who missed all last season with injury and had played only two varsity matches this season, showed great composure at No. 3 singles. After a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Dwenger, she used her speed and consistency to deliver a steady 6-2, 6-0 victory over Homestead. With an 8-1 JV record and a 4-0 varsity record, Stella now has secured her first varsity letter.
Also going 2-0 on the day were No. 1 doubles teammates Kelsey Vest and Kate Manor. They overwhelmed Dwenger 6-1, 6-0 and then played one of their best matches of the season in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over a strong Homestead team. The Homestead top doubles team had lost only twice this season to state-ranked Guerin Catholic and Top 10 Evansville Memorial (in three sets).
Vest and Manor have now won 13 of their last 14 matches. During that stretch, they have won 151 games and lost only 27 for an 85% winning rate. Overall they are 14-3 in matches this spring.
Vest now has 66 career varsity victories, one away from tying 2024 graduate Gabby Knight for 16th place all-time in DHS Girls’ Tennis. Manor has 63 career wins in just three seasons.
Senior Brylee Beckley stepped up to No. 1 singles in the absence of Bamidele. She won 7-5, 6-1 over Dwenger in the morning round, then lost 2-6, 0-6 to Homestead’s highly ranked senior Macy Parker. Macy is the daughter of former DHS Tennis standout Beth Miller, who helped the Eagles reach the IHSAA Final Four in 2000.
Beckley is now 13-3 for the spring and is the 31st player in school history to reach 60 career varsity victories.
Delta also went 1-1 at No. 2 doubles. Junior Rowan Hinds and sophomore Alexa Bratton beat Dwenger 6-1, 6-0 in the morning, then lost 5-7, 2-6 to Homestead in the afternoon. They are 13-3 this season. Hinds has 55 career wins in three seasons and Bratton has 33 in just two seasons.
In JV action, Delta also played well Saturday, beating Dwenger 5-0 and topping Homestead 3-2.
Junior Tru Swoboda, freshman Maddi Cox and freshman Avery Gray each went 2-0 in singles. Swoboda is 12-2 this season while Cox is a team-best 16-1 and Gray is 15-2.
In doubles, the teams of Marley Dowling/Anna Marcum and Ella Marcum/Mylee Jones each went 1-1, beating Dwenger and losing to Homestead.
Sisters Addy and Audrey Anderson missed Saturday’s matches as they were out of state with family.
This week’s schedule is as follows:
Monday — at Pendleton Heights for Hoosier Heritage Conference match at 5:15 p.m.
Tuesday — home against Mississinewa for Senior Day (4:45 p.m. ceremony with match to follow about 5:30 p.m.)
Thursday — vs. 17th-ranked Center Grove at a neutral site, Noblesville, with a 5:30 start. Most matches will be at the Noblesville HS Tennis Complex, with a few at nearby Noblesville East Middle School courts, which have recently been resurfaced.
Saturday — vs. Shelbyville in the season’s last HHC match, at neutral site Mt. Vernon at 10 a.m.