Delta’s sixth victory over a state-ranked team this season was its most dramatic.

The 13th-ranked Eagles won the championship of the Delta Invitational on Saturday afternoon by beating 17th-ranked Western 4-1.

The Panthers returned their full lineup from last year’s team that lost 3-2 to South Bend St. Joseph’s in the semi-state.

We expected this match to be very close — and it did not disappoint. Three of the five positions came down to third-set super tiebreaks, and the difference was Delta won all three of the 10-point tiebreaks.

Delta took a 1-0 lead in the match when sophomore Luke Atkinson won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

Western then tied the score at 1-1 as Panther sophomore Eli Mast defeated Eagle freshman Jackson Darby 4-6, 3-6 at the top singles position.

The next to finish was No. 1 doubles, where senior Aaron Elliott and junior Tyce Dishman outlasted Western seniors Kaleb York and Aiden Mawbey, 6-2, 5-7, (13-11).    The Western team competed last season in the IHSAA State Doubles finals and has lost fewer then five matches the past two seasons, although two of those have been to Delta (also losing last year to Brady Williams and Ben Miller).

The attention then shifted to No. 2 doubles, which also was in a tight match.  Senior Brady Williams and freshman Brandon Grubbs beat a solid senior/junior combo 6-1, 3-6, (10-5) to clinch the team victory.

Freshman Charlie Vannatter came up clutch at No. 2 singles, rallying to beat senior Evan Trauring 3-6, 6-3 (10-6) to finish off the 4-1 victory for the Eagles.

Delta started the season against some very strong state-ranked teams at the Jeffersonville Invitational and at Culver Military Academy.  In that eight-day stretch, the Eagles went 3-6 in three-set matches at the varsity level.

But in the month since those results, Delta’s varsity has put together a 10-2 record in three-set matches, including a perfect 6-0 record in 10-point super tiebreaks.

Winning the close matches has helped Delta beat state-ranked teams Fort Wayne Carroll (twice), Greenfield-Central, Cathedral, Kokomo and Western.

In the semifinal round of the Delta Invitational, the Eagles shut out Lake Central 5-0, with all matches in straight sets.  Lake Central is ranked fourth in District 1 and has a victory over traditional power Munster.  This sets up an interesting situation next week as Munster has won a state-record 44 consecutive sectional titles, but Lake Central has a legitimate chance to end that streak this year.

Delta played an all-freshmen singles lineup against Lake Central, with Jackson Darby beating a strong sophomore at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-4.  Vannatter won 6-0, 6-0 at the second spot, and Brandon Grubbs won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

Elliott/Dishman and Williams/Ben Miller swept the doubles spots.

Lake Central No. 1 doubles player, senior Tony “Never Nervous” Mervos, won the tourney’s sportsmanship award.

The Eagles began the day with a 5-0 victory over Muncie Burris, limiting the Owls to a total of seven games in the five matches.  Under first-year head coach and Delta grad Mason Wrisley, the Owls have put together a strong season with double-digit victories.  But Delta had too much firepower.

Vannatter played No. 1 singles and won 6-0, 6-3 over a talented junior who moved to the Indiana Academy from Columbus.  Atkinson played Np. 2 singles and won 6-0, 6-0, although his opponent (an Academy senior from Michigan City) was a scrappy competitor.  Grubbs won 6-2, 6-0 over Muncie sophomore Nolan Clark at No. 3 singles.

Elliott/Dishman won 6-0, 6-1 over seniors Jason Fang and William Villaluz at No. 1 doubles, and Miller/Williams won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.

Here are the varsity players’ records for the season:

Darby 12-8 at No. 1 singles against many outstanding opponents

Vannatter 16-5, almost all at No. 2 singles

Atkinson 16-3, almost all at No. 3 singles

Elliott 17-3, mostly at No. 1 doubles

Dishman 16-4 at No. 1 doubles

Williams 15-2, almost all at No. 2 doubles

Miller 11-2, almost all at No. 2 doubles

Grubbs 15-3, with matches at No. 3 singles, No. 1 doubles, and No. 2 doubles

The victory in the championship match was the 700th career victory in boys’ tennis for head coach Tim Cleland.

In extra JV matches on Saturday, junior Denys Krushenytskyi went 3-0 and played his best tennis of the season.  Freshman Jacob Tokar had a different commitment in the afternoon but won his only match and improved to 15-0 for the year. He is the team’s lone unbeaten player.

Senior John Atkinson went 2-1, junior Maddox Weddle went 2-1, and senior Ben Miller and sophomore Luke Atkinson went 1-0.

The Eagles (16-2 overall and 6-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference) will finish the regular season with a Senior Night home match on Monday vs. conference rival Mt. Vernon.  The Senior Day ceremony will start shortly after 4:30 p.m., with the match to begin about 5 p.m.

Mt. Vernon won the league title in both 2023 and 2024 but is in third place this year.  Delta leads at 6-0 and has clinched at least a share of the league title. Greenfield finished at 6-1, and Mt. Vernon is 4-2.

The seven seniors who will be honored Monday evening:

John Atkinson

Kaden Crist

Aaron Elliott

Ben Miller

Ayden Mitchell

Brady Williams

Jacob Williams

We look forward to seeing a nice crowd for the final regular-season match!