NOTE: The journalism boys (Charlie, Brandon, Tyce) have been suggesting the leads for the recap stories again.  Thanks for the inspiration guys!

Warmup for the annual Delta Invitational started early Saturday morning in a shroud of fog.  By the end of the day, Delta was sitting atop Cloud Nine.

Nine.

That’s how many games Lake Central won in the championship match against Delta.

Nine.

That’s how many games Western won in the semifinals against Delta.

For the day, Delta made it a clean sweep of Richmond, Western and Lake Central, beating all three opponents 5-0.  The Eagles won 180 games on the day while giving up only 22.

Sixth-ranked Delta (16-2) will end the regular season on Monday evening at Mt. Vernon.  This will be the final Hoosier Heritage Conference match in Delta Tennis history.  The Eagles are 4-0 and are in first place in the HHC standings.  New Pal owns a 4-1 conference record while Mt. Vernon is 3-1 in the league.  If Delta wins, the Eagles will wrap up the HHC title for the 24th time.  If Mt. Vernon wins, it would be a three-way tie for first.

All eight varsity players performed well in Saturday’s tournament.

Sophomore Jackson Darby gained a nice 6-3, 6-1 victory over Richmond’s Alexander Harrick.  The Red Devil player had lost only once all season and was fifth in the District 4 singles rankings a year ago.

Darby won each of his remaining two matches 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday and now stands 15-5 as the Eagles’ top player this season.

Sophomore Charlie Vannatter and junior Luke Atkinson were even more dominant at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively  Each dropped only two games on the day.  Vannatter improved to 17-4 while Atkinson is now 19-2.

The Eagles dominated in doubles as well.

Senior Tyce Dishman and sophomore Brandon Grubbs went 3-0, including a 6-0, 6-2 victory over a strong Western duo.  For the day, Dishman and Grubbs won 36 games and lost just six.  They are 19-2 for the season.

Junior Roman Ashcraft, sophomore Kiptyn Schwartz and freshman Easton Duckworth each went 2-0 at No. 2 doubles in various combinations.  They combined to win 36 games and lose 8.  Delta is 17-4 at the No. 2 doubles position this season.

Seniors Grant Durkovich and Jason Ogle also got opportunities to play a varsity match on Saturday.  One of the participating teams, Norwell, had only six players, leaving the No. 3 singles position was vacant. Durkovich and Ogle filled in at No. 3 singles for Norwell so that the opponents would have someone to play. (Officially the position was recorded as a forfeit in the match scores.)

Ogle lost 0-6, 2-6 to Western.

Durkovich, who missed Senior Night recently due to illness, got a chance to be in the varsity spotlight for the first time.  He played a strong match, but came up just short against Rchmond.  Grant won the first set 6-3, then dropped the second set 5-7.  In the 10-point match tiebreak, Grant fell 6-10.

Complete team standings in the tournament:

1. Delta
2. Lake Central
3. Western
4. Burris
5. Yorktown
6. Norwell
7. Richmond
8. Bellmont

Complete Results

DELTA 5, RICHMOND 0

Singles

1. Darby def. Harrick, 6-3, 6-1
2. Vannatter def. Torres-Mejia, 6-0, 6-0
3. Atkinson def. Patel, 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

1. Dishman / Grubbs def. Scherer / Wetzel, 6-0, 6-0
2. Schwartz / Ashcraft def. Mitchell / Forero, 6-0, 6-0

JV Results

1. Grant Durkovich lost to Richmond, 3-5

Extra #3 Singles Varsity vs. Western

1`. Jason Ogle lost 0-6, 2-6

 

DELTA 5, WESTERN 0

Singles

1. Darby def. Paul, 6-0 6-0
2. Vannatter def. Ousley 6-0, 6-0
3. Atkinson def. Condo, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

1. Dishman / Grubbs def. Cothern / Aaron, 6-0, 6-2
2. Duckworth / Ashcraft def. McNulty / Roe, 6-3, 6-2

JV Results

1. Schwartz / Ogle def. Western 6-2
2. Duckworth def. Western, 6-0
3. Durkovich lost to Western 5-7

Extra #3 Singles Varsity vs. Richmond

1`. Grant Durkovich lost 6-3, 5-7 (6-10)

 

DELTA 5, LAKE CENTRAL 0

Singles

1. Darby def. Lavery, 6-0, 6-0
2. Vannatter def. Devine, 6-0, 6-1
3. Atkinson def. Pallas, 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

1. Dishman / Grubbs def. Malik / Ridgley, 6-2, 6-2
2. Duckworth / Schwartz def. Rieger / Lin, 6-1, 6-2

JV Results

1. Ogle / Ashcraft def. Lake Central, 6-2
2. Durkovich lost to Lake Central, 2-6