In the first three weeks of the season, the Eagles competed against 10 different state-ranked teams.

That rugged schedule paid off Tuesday evening as Delta traveled to New Castle and blitzed the Trojans 5-0 at the varsity level and 8-0 at the JV level to remain in first place in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.

For the evening, the Eagles won 108 games and lost just 17 against a Trojan team that entered with a 9-3 record on the season.

Freshman Jackson Darby led the way with a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles over senior Austin Nunez.

Freshman Charlie Vannatter won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles over senior Caleb Inman.

Sophomore Luke Atkinson added a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles over junior Cameron Hastings.

Junior Tyce Dishman and senior Aaron Elliott were sharp in a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 doubles.

Senior Ben Miller and freshman Brandon Grubbs finished out the shutout with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles.

In the new state rankings released Tuesday morning, Delta climbed to a season-high No. 13. This is the team’s best ranking since 2018.

Delta improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference.  The Eagles are all alone in first place.  Mt. Vernon was unbeaten in league play until Tuesday, but the Marauders lost 4-1 to Greenfield-Central.  Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central each have one league loss on the season.

In JV action, the Eagles beat New Castle 8-0.

Singles players Owen Zacek, Andrew Alexander, Reid Cardemon and Cooper Coutinho all won 6-1.

The doubles teams of Ayden Mitchell/Kiptyn Schwartz, Jacob Williams/Jason Ogle, and Maddox Weddle/Denys Krushenytskyi all won 6-1 also. Grant Durkovich/Hayden Case won 6-0.

Grant Durkovich owns the team’s best record at 6-0 this fall. Jacob Williams also is unbeaten at 5-0.

The Eagles will host Lapel at 5 p.m. Wednesday in a non-conference match.