For the second straight year, a rain delay of more than three hours at the Delta Invitational on the same day as the Prom added some stress to the lives of the DHS Tennis players, coaches and parents on Saturday.
But several hours of hard work to get the courts dry, a modified scoring system, and a lot of patience from everyone involved resulted in a successful day on the courts and on the dance floor.
The Eagles won two of three matches and finished third in the 8-team tournament. The tournament was finally able to start at noon, and all players were done by 5 p.m. and were off to get ready, take pictures, eat dinner, and make it to the Albany Wedding Factory for the Prom. Senior No. 1 doubles player Kelsey Vest was voted Prom Queen, and junior No. 1 singles player Elizabeth Bamidele was chosen Junior Princess.
On the court, the Eagles started the day with a 4-1 victory over Kokomo. All matches were 8-game pro sets due to the long rain delay. Delta dominated all positions except No. 1 singles, where Bamidele went toe-to-toe with talented Kokomo senior Raigin Heflin, who has signed to play tennis at Marian University in Indianapolis. Heflin won 8-7 (5) in a pro set that lasted almost 1.5 hours. The other standout result from the Kokomo match was junior Stella Sieber getting a varsity match at No. 3 singles. Early on it looked like she might have a close match as the first two games featured many competitive rallies, but Stella grew stronger as the match progressed and won 8-0.
Next up for the Eagles was ca semifinal match against 13th-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll. The Chargers returned all seven varsity starters from last spring’s team that reached the IHSAA State Finals. Carroll emerged with a 3-2 victory by winning at No. 1 singles and then gaining a rare sweep of Delta in doubles. The Eagles picked up victories from Brylee Beckley at No. 2 singles (8-4) and from Olivia Marshall at No. 3 singles (8-7). Carroll flexed its muscles at No. 1 singles, winning 8-2, and No. 1 doubles, winning 8-3. It came down to No. 2 doubles, where Delta built a 4-1 lead before Carroll roared back for an 8-4 victory.
That left Delta and Hamilton Southeastern playing for third place. Delta’s players were eager to get to Prom and so they wasted no time in powering past HSE. The doubles teams of Kelsey Vest/Kate Manor and Rowan Hinds/Alexa Bratton each won 8-1. Olivia Marshall moved up to No. 2 singles and won 8-3. Elizabeth Bamidele won 8-2 at No. 1 singles. Freshman Avery Gray then subbed in to the No. 3 singles position and got to play her first-ever varsity match. She took her HSE opponent to a tiebreak but lost, 7-8 (1).
Fort Wayne Carroll won the championship, beating 20th-ranked Indianapolis Bishop Chatard in the finals, 3-2. Chatard and Delta were tied for No. 20 in the latest state rankings. Chatard’s Maggie Bertram won the tournament sportsmanship award.
In JV action, Tru Swoboda won 6-0 over Lake Central; and Avery Gray/Addy Anderson lost 3-6 to FW Carroll.
For the varsity, the full day results were:
No. 1 singles — Elizabeth Bamidele 1-2 …Elizabeth is now 8-5 for the season
No. 2 singles — Brylee Beckley 2-0, Olivia Marshall 1-0 … Brylee is 10-2 for the season
No. 3 singles — Stella Sieber 1-0, Olivia Marshall 1-0, Avery Gray 0-1 …Olivia is 9-2 for the season, Stella is 2-0. Avery is 0-1
No. 1 doubles — Kelsey Vest/Kate Manor 2-1 … Kelsey and Kate are 10-3 for the season
No. 2 doubles — Rowan Hinds/ Alexa Bratton 2-1 … Rowan and Alexa are 11-2 for the season
Compete team results:
1st — No. 13 FW Carroll
2nd — No. 20 Bishop Chatard
3rd — No. 20 Delta
4th — Hamilton Southeastern
5th — No. 27 Lake Central
6th — Muncie Burris
7th — Kokomo
8th — Greenfield Central
Next for Delta is the 13th annual SmashCancer match vs. Yorktown. This match will be Tuesday at Delta courts. Honorary Server Survivors should check in at a registration desk in the tennis shelterhouse by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The pre-match ceremony will start as soon as everyone is checked in. After the honorary first serves from the approximately 65 Server Survivors, the match between Delta and Yorktown will begin.
The match is expected to raise close to $20,000 again for local cancer beneficiaries. Concessions will be available throughout the evening with Maucky’s BBQ sandwiches, walking tacos, popcorn, Grandma Sandy Manor’s cookies, and bottled water as well as drinks from Twisters. Raffle tickets will be available with prizes including lower level tickets to the Reds and Dodgers, lower level tickets to Notre Dame football, and lower-level tickets to the Cincinnati Open pro tennis tournament.
The apparel store remains open at www.smashcancer.org. Additional apparel samples will be sold at the match.