The Eagles began the postseason path with a sharp performance on Thursday evening in a 5-0 shutout victory over Muncie Central in the semifinals of the Delta Sectional.
Delta (16-4) swept every match 6-0, 6-0 except at No. 2 doubles, where the Eagles still dominated 6-1, 6-1.
Since 1992, Delta girls’ tennis is now 71-1 in sectional team matches, losing only to Yorktown 3-2 in 2010. The Eagles will play for their 13th straight sectional title and their 31st in the past 32 seasons when they face Muncie Burris at 4:45 p.m. today (Friday) in the finals.
Gabby Knight, Brylee Beckley and Elizabeth Bamidele won in singles, while Kelsey Vest/Katie Manor and Rowan Hinds/Alexa Bratton won in doubles.
Vest and Manor gained their 20th victory of the season in their first season together. They are 20-3 at No. 1 doubles. Tonight’s opponent, Burris, pushed Vest and Manor in a regular-season match before the Delta duo pulled away for a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Hinds and Bratton are 18-5 at No. 2 doubles in their first season together.
The four Delta varsity doubles players are one junior, two sophomores and a freshman.
At No. 1 singles, the varsity’s only senior, Gabby Knight, improved her record to 17-6. She has won 15 of her last 19 matches.
Junior Brylee Beckley returned from recent sickness and won easily to move her record to 15-4 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 3 singles, sophomore Elizabeth Bamidele also cruised to victory and is 14-8 for the season.
DELTA 5, MUNCIE CENTRAL 0
Varsity Singles
- Gabby Knight (D) def. Isabel Quirk, (MC), 6-0, 6-0
- Brylee Beckley (D) def. Taj Isom (MC), 6-0, 6-0
- Elizabeth Bamidele (D) def. Andrea Lopez-Bautista (MC), 6-0, 6-0
Varsity Doubles
- Kelsey Vest/Katie Manor (D) def. Sadie Hannah/Emma Judge (MC), 6-0, 6-0
- Rowan Hinds/Alexa Bratton (D), def. Clarissa Jones/Grace Walker (MC), 6-1, 6-1