Not much separates senior tennis players Olivia Marshall and Stella Sieber in the classroom or on the tennis court.

Both girls have earned Academic All-State honors this spring, a difficult award as it requires a nearly perfect GPA as well as an SAT score of at least 1280.  They are the 18th and 19th girls in school history to earn tennis Academic All-State.

And on the court, each girl improved her season record to 21-4 as they were able to grind out tough wins on Saturday to push Delta to a 4-1 victory over Homestead for the semi-state championship. The match was played in sunny but windy conditions on the Homestead courts in Fort Wayne.

Delta (20-2) will advance to the IHSAA Team State Finals for the seventh time in girls’ tennis and for the 12th time in both boys’ and girls’ tennis.

Here are the match-ups for the quarterfinal round of the State Finals.  These matches all will be on Friday, June 5 at North Central HS in Indianapolis:

#11 Jasper vs. #16 FW Carroll

#6 Evansville Memorial vs. #7 North Central

#3 Carmel vs. #5 Center Grove

#15 Delta vs. #8 Munster

The time schedule is listed two different ways right now on the IHSAA website.  One place lists the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Friday with semifinals to follow at 2 p.m. Friday and then championship at 10 a.m. Saturday.  Another place on the website lists the quarterfinals at noon Friday with semifinals and finals on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.  (Updates will be sent out once we get clarification on which system is being used.)

Delta is the smallest public school still alive in the chase for this year’s championship. To reach the state finals, the Eagles (825 students) have beaten 10th-ranked Westfield (3,064 students) and 18th-ranked Homestead (2,345 students) in the last four days, both by 4-1 scores.  Munster has 1,474 students.

Marshall and Sieber each were freshmen on the JV the last time Delta reached the state finals in 2023.  This time they have played key roles in returning to state.

On Saturday, the Eagles held a 2-1 lead when Sieber went to a third set at No. 3 singles.  Meanwhile, Marshall was locked in a tight match at No. 2 singles.

Sieber came up big in the final set with a nearly flawless performance and gained a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory, clinching the semi-state title.

A half-hour later, Marshall held off two set points in the second set and came away with a 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory to make the final team score 4-1.  The most memorable point of the match came on the first point of the tiebreaker when the two girls played about a 20-hit rally that included Natalie Christoff hammering an overhead smash and Marshall somehow contorting her body in mid-air and blocking the ball back over Christoff’s head into the court.

To set up the late heroics from the singles players, the two Eagle doubles teams took care of business as they have done throughout the season.

No. 1 doubles Kate Manor and Alexa Bratton won 6-2, 6-1 and now stand at 23-2 for the year.  They have given up only eight games in their five postseason matches.  Manor also played No. 1 doubles as a freshman the last time the Eagles were at state, while Bratton was then in eighth grade.

Manor now has 94 career victories, first all-time for Delta.

At No. 2 doubles, seniors Rowan Hinds and Elizabeth Bamidele won 6-2, 6-4 as they continued their perfect season.  They are 25-0 at No. 2 doubles, including seven victories over state-ranked teams.  Hinds played No. 2 doubles as a freshman on the last state finals team and ranks second all-time with 88 victories.

Bamidele was a top JV singles player as a freshman before moving on to two years of varsity singles as a sophomore and junior.  She switched to doubles for the first time this season and has adapted splendidly to the new role.

Homestead picked up its lone point on Saturday at No. 1 singles, where junior Caroline Meier topped Delta freshman Sophie Crabtree 6-2, 6-4.  By virtue of being unbeaten in the postseason, Meier (20-5 overall) advances directly into the IHSAA State Singles finals.

Crabtree, who is 18-7 in her rookie season, tried hard to execute a new strategy that she had been working on in practice and had leads of 3-1 and 4-3 in the second set but was unable to extend the match to three sets.

This was another “program win” for the Eagles with huge contributions from assistant coach Tate Dishman, alternate players, managers, parents and more to help this team soar to state! Everyone can be proud of what we have accomplished together … but the job’s not done!

Complete results

DELTA 4  HOMESTEAD 1

Singles

1. Sophie Crabtree (D) lost to Caroline Meier, 2-6, 4-6
2. Olivia Marshall (D) defeated Natalie Christoff, 7-5, 7-6 (3)
3. Stella Sieber (D) defeated Julia Hansen, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0

Doubles

1. Kate Manor / Alexa Bratton (D) defeated Nadia Cowan / Emma Cook, 6-2, 6-1
2. Elizabeth Bamidele (12) / Rowan Hinds (12) defeated Caroline Miller / Ellie Torres, 6-2, 6-4