Freshman Brandon Grubbs covers a volley against Westfield. (Photo by Paige Hayes)
Senior Brady Williams gives a low five to partner Brandon Grubbs in their No. 2 doubles match. (Photo by Paige Hayes)
No. 1 doubles partner Aaron Elliott and Tyce Dishman encourage each other during their victory. (Photo by Paige Hayes)
With almost 1,500 matches to choose from over the past 35 years, Delta boys’ and girls’ tennis has been a part of some “instant classic” matches.
Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory for 13th-ranked Delta over 11th-ranked Westfield will go down as one for the ages.
The teams battled for three hours under intense pressure in the opening round of the Noblesville Regional. Westfield, a school of nearly 3,000 students, spent most of the season in the top 10 state rankings, rising as high as #7.
The Shamrocks’ best victory this season was over 3rd-ranked Hamilton Southeastern when No. 1 singles player Parker Paramoure won a four-hour match on the final court to upset the Royals. They also had wins over many other state-ranked teams, including Avon, Fishers, Brownsburg, Western and Kokomo.
In this match, Westfield won 63 games compared to just 54 for Delta.
But Delta, which improved its season record to 20-2, refused to go away.
All of the first sets were exciting as every score was 6-4 or 7-5. Westfield won 6-4 in the opening set of all three singles matches, while Delta won 6-4 at No. 1 doubles and 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
But then Westfield put some intense pressure on the Eagles. Westfield No. 2 singles player sophomore Luke Stoecker asserted himself in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over freshman Charlie Vannatter. And Westfield No. 3 singles player junior Ajay Prasanna completed a 6-4, 6-1 victory over sophomore Luke Atkinson.
If Delta were to keep its season alive, the Eagles would have to win every remaining court.
Senior Aaron Elliott and junior Tyce Dishman got things started with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory at No. 1 doubles. Elliott and Dishman now are 17-2 together this season, with their only two losses as partners coming way back on Aug. 22-23 at the Jeffersonville Invitational in three sets to Guerin Catholic and Columbus North.
The road to victory remained very difficult for Delta. The Eagles were playing the match with three freshmen in the varsity lineup, including two who were still on the court and had to win.
No. 1 singles player Jackson Darby and the No. 2 doubles team of Brady Williams and Brandon Grubbs each were entering the third set.
Darby, a freshman, was up against Paramoure, a senior who was on the All-State Singles team last year.
Another freshman, Grubbs, was playing with senior Williams for only the seventh time together this year. And they were up against a senior/sophomore combo of Ben Soukop and Charlie Juleen, who had wins this season over top-10 teams Guerin Catholic and Avon and a three-set loss to then-No. 1 ranked Brebeuf.
Williams and Grubbs kept their composure, fought valiantly, and executed assistant coach Tate Dishman’s game plan. They survived two match points and willed their way to a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory.
The crowd then rushed to the first court at the Noblesville Tennis Complex, where two hard-hitting lefties, Darby and Paramoure, were locked in a tight battle. Paramoure had won the first set 6-4, but Darby clawed back for a 6-2 win in the second set. Now they were tied at 4-4 in the final set with everything on the line.
Darby broke serve to take a 5-4 lead and built a 40-0 lead in his service game, giving the Eagles three match points. But Paramoure refused to die, winning three points in a row to give the Shamrocks new life. Darby again got the advantage for another match point, but Paramoure again got it back to deuce. Darby reached his fifth match point and then grinded out a 10-hit rally of pounding the ball to Paramoure’s backhand before the Westfield player’s shot sailed wide, sealing the victory for Darby.
Darby improved his record to 16-8, including six wins in his last seven matches. His only other three-set victory this season came in the opening match of the year against 8th-ranked Zionsville.
Delta’s 20-win season has featured several matches where the Eagles pulled out pressure-packed victories — with a different hero each time.
On Sept. 2, they beat state-ranked Greenfield-Central 3-2 with Luke Atkinson winning 7-6 in the third set in a three-hour match. This led to a conference title for the Eagles.
On Sept. 6, they beat state-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll 3-2 with Charlie Vannatter rallying for a third-set tiebreak victory, 10-8 in the tiebreak. Aaron Elliott and Brandon Grubbs also won a third-set breaker in that match.
On Sept. 18, they beat state-ranked Kokomo 3-2 with Tyce Dishman and Aaron Elliott winning 6-4 in the third set in the final match on the court. Ben Miller and Grubbs also gained a clutch victory at No. 2 doubles to set up the heroics.
And on Sept. 27, they beat state-ranked Western 4-1 by winning three third-set tiebreaks: Vannatter in singles and Dishman/Elliott and Williams/Grubbs in doubles.
Next up for Delta is a regional championship match today (Wednesday) against Alexandria. The match starts at 4:45 p.m. at Noblesville with $8 admission.
The Eagles will be trying for their 26th regional title, but their first since 2022 and their first since being reassigned to the difficult Noblesville Regional.
Complete Results
DELTA 3, WESTFIELD 2
Singles
- Jackson Darby def. Parker Paramoure, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Charlie Vannatter lost to Luke Stoecker, 4-6, 0-6
- Luke Atkinson lost to Ajay Prasanna, 4-6, 1-6
Doubles- Tyce Dishman/Aaron Elliott def. Payton Paramoure/Leyton Steil, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
- Brady Williams/Brandon Grubbs def. Charlie Juleen/Ben Soukop, 7-5. 2-6, 7-6 (4)