After two earlier rainouts, the 10th annual SmashCancer match finally happened Thursday evening with a large crowd at the new Yorktown tennis complex under sunny skies and mid-80s temperatures.
On the court, the Eagles won 5-0 in the varsity match and 10-6 in the JV match as every girl for each team played.
But of course SmashCancer is about much more than the tennis. More than 40 people hit an honorary first serve as a Server Survivor. Each of these servers was either a past or present cancer patient or was serving in honor of or in memory of a cancer patient.
Each player wore one of a dozen different colored shirts to represent various cancers. Almost 100 sponsor signs from businesses and families were on display.
Delta student Megan Hiday, a junior, was able to attend the match and hit an honorary first serve. She has been battling CIC-DUX4 sarcoma for the past six months with frequent stays at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
Final tallies are not yet available, but the event will raise between $14,000 and $16,000 for local cancer beneficiaries. Last year’s event raised a record total of $15,000, and this year’s event may tie or even exceed that total. This year’s event pushes the 10-year combined total to more than $70,000.
The beneficiaries this year include the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana, the family of Megan Hiday, the family of Yorktown second-grader Kavry Jester, and more.
The 20th-ranked Eagles are 13-4 and will play Shelbville at 10 a.m. Saturday on the Mt. Vernon courts. Delta is 6-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and will be aiming to wrap up its 12th consecutive HHC title. This is an all-time league record for any sport. The Eagles have won 79 straight HHC dual matches in girls’ tennis.
Complete Results
Varsity Singles
- Gwen Clark won 6-2, 6-0
- Gabby Knight won 6-0, 6-4
- Brylee Beckley won 6-0, 6-1
Varsity Doubles
- Maggie Hunt/Janet Wegener won 6-0, 6-1
- Madelyn Haley/Iva Witter won 6-2, 6-0
JV Singles
- Kelsey Vest won 8-0
- Katie Alexander won 8-0
- Caitlyn Kirby won 8-2
- Hailey Conner won 8-1
JV Doubles
- Eden Richey/Olivia Miller won 8-1
- Rylen Jones/Emily Hayes won 8-4
- Hannah McDowell/Lizzy Thomas won 8-0
- Ava Fallon/Anna Cardemon won 8-0
- Sarah Haney/Autumn Subler lost 1-8
- Emily Woodson/Carley Kitchens lost 3-8
- Mariah Garrett/Avery Barnes won 8-4
- Carmen Maxwell/Grace Flowers won 8-6
- Maddy Cooper/Lani Anderson lost 5-8
- Hannah Swanson/Sam Diaz lost 4-8
- Ashlynn Sparks/Mackemzie Lipps lost 2-8
- Sara Longoni/Ava McCully lost 0-8