The Eagles used their depth and versatility to put together a great day of tennis on Saturday at the Fort Wayne Carroll Invitational.

Using a variety of lineups, 16th-ranked Delta won two of three dual matches and finished third in the powerful tournament.

In the opening round, the Eagles used a singles lineup consisting of three freshmen — a first in school history!  The youngsters led the way to a 4-1 victory over 25th-ranked Cathedral, a team that returned five juniors and seniors from an Irish team that beat Delta last year.

Charlie Vannatter won a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles. Brandon Grubbs, playing varsity singles for the first time, won 6-3, 6-2 over a Cathedral player who had won first place at No. 3 singles in an elite invite the previous weekend in Indianapolis that included teams from FW Carroll, Munster, Brownsburg, North Central, University and more.

The Eagles also swept doubles convincingly over Cathedral.  Tyce Dishman and Aaron Elliott won 6-3, 6-3 over a duo who had beaten Delta last season.  Brady Williams and Ben Miller dominated 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.

In the semifinals, Delta lost a 1-4 decision to 4th-ranked Homestead.  The lone winners from Delta were Brady Williams and Aaron Elliott at No. 2 doubles by a score of 6-2, 6-1.

Homestead has an amazing singles lineup.  Senior Ben Garrean finished in the final four in state singles last year at No. 1 singles — but he’s playing No. 2 singles this season because his younger brother, Joe Garrean, moved into the No. 1 slot.  Freshman Jackson Darby won three games in the second set off Joe Garrean at No. 1 singles, and freshman Vannatter collected three games against Ben Garrean also.

The final round of the day was an amazing match against 12th-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll.  The Chargers were 10-0 before losing to 3rd-ranked Hamilton Southeastern 3-2 in the semifinals of the tournament. Delta rallied to win two three-set matches and gained a 3-2 victory over Carroll, a team that returned nearly their entire lineup from a year ago when they beat Delta.

Vannatter rallied for a three-set win at No. 2 singles.

Luke Atkinson came up big in a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles over a player who had beaten him last year.

Elliott and Grubbs clinched the team victory with a 6-7, 6-1, 10-3 victory at No. 2 doubles.

Darby battled hard at No. 1 singles against hard-serving Carroll senior All-State candidate Andrew Jamison.  Darby won the first set 6-4, but Jamison took the second set 3-6 and Jamison won the tiebreaker 4-10.

Carroll also won No. 1 doubles, where Williams and Miller fell 3-6, 3-6.

Delta and Carroll will meet again in their annual dual match on Sept. 17 at Norwell HS courts.

In JV action, Delta players won 9 matches and lost just 2 on the day. Complete JV results are listed at the bottom of the scores below

The Eagles (5-2) will travel to New Castle for a conference match on Tuesday evening.

COMPLETE RESULTS

Delta 4, Cathedral 1

Varsity Singles

1. Jackson Darby lost to Wojtalik, 4-6, 2-6
2. Charlie Vannatter def. James Langfeldt, 6-2, 2-6, 10-5
3. Brandon Grubbs def. Luke Langfeldt, 6-3, 6-2

Varsity Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman/Aaron Elliott def. R. Wernke/T. Wernke, 6-3, 6-3
2. Brady Williams/Ben Miller def. Whelan/Smith, 6-2, 6-1

Delta 1, Homestead 4

Varsity Singles

1. Jackson Darby lost to J. Garrean, 0-6, 3-6
2. Charlie Vannatter lost to B. Garrean, 1-6, 2-6
3. Luke Vannatter lost to Ji, 1-6, 0-6

Varsity Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman/Brandon Grubbs lost to Miller/Pasalich, 3-6, 2-6
2. Brady Williams/Aaron Elliott def. Boda/Schroeder, 6-2, 6-1

Delta 3, FW Carroll 2

Varsity Singles

1. Jackson Darby lost to Jamison, 6-4, 3-6, 4-10
2. Charlie Vannatter def. Croft, 1-6, 6-2, 10-8
3. Luke Atkinson def. Sznaza, 6-0, 6-2

Varsity Doubles

1. Brady Williams/Ben Miller lost to Mettler/Jones, 3-6, 3-6
2. Aaron Elliott/Brandon Grubbs def. Smith/Holley 6-7, 6-1, 10-8

JV RESULTS

Colten Cruea def. FW Carroll, 8-1
Kaden Crist/Bryce Carmichael def. FW Carroll, 7-4
Roman Ashcraft/Owen Zacek def. Alexandria, 6-0
Ayden Mitchell/Kiptyn Schwartz lost to Cathedral, 2-5
Roman Ashcraft def. DeKalb, 8-6
Owen Zacek def. DeKalb, 6-0
Kaden Crist/Colten Cruea def. DeKalb 6-1
Kaden Crist/Colten Cruea def. FW Carroll 6-0
Bryce Carmichael/Kiptyn Schwartz def. FW Carroll 6-2
Ayden Mitchell lost to DeKalb, 6-8
Owen Zacek/Kiptyn Schwartz def. Alexandria 6-0
Tyce Dishman/Bryce Carmichael def. Hamilton Southeastern 6-2