Ten minutes into the regional championship match on Wednesday evening, the scorecards showed Delta with a 3-0 first-set lead over Westfield at No. 2 singles, No. 3 singles, and No. 1 doubles.
It was exactly the type of start the Eagles had visualized two days earlier in practice.
And two hours later Delta was lifting a regional championship trophy — just as they envisioned.
Fifteenth-ranked Delta knocked off 10th-ranked Westfield 4-1 to win the Noblesville Regional and advance to the Sweet 16 in the state. They next will play in the semi-state at 18th-ranked Homestead at 11 a.m. Saturday for a berth in the IHSAA State Finals.
This is the 45th regional title in girls’ and boys’ tennis for Delta in Coach Cleland’s 67 seasons. But the latest title is especially noteworthy for a few reasons:
- This is the first regional title for girls since being reassigned to the Noblesville Regional three years ago.
- This completes a school-year sweep of the regional as the Delta boys defeated 9th-ranked Westfield 3-2 in the regional in the fall.
- And the 10th-ranked Westfield girls recently dominated their conference tournament by winning four of the five flights in a league that includes five other state-ranked teams: #13 Zionsville, #14 Fishers, #21 Brownsburg, #24 Avon and #30 Hamilton Southeastern.
But on this day, Delta played like the weather: sunny, warm and perfectly calm.
Although Westfield star singles player Isla Harvey, who has only one loss this season, got the Shamrocks on the board first with a victory at No. 1 singles over freshman Sophie Crabtree, the rest of the match belonged the Eagles.
Senior Stella Sieber evened the match at 1-1 by defeating Westfield’s Alexis Halliburton 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
Moments later, senior Olivia Marshall gave Delta a 2-1 lead as she finished off a masterpiece. She won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles over Sloane Seyferth, a player who won her conference title and had wins this season over players from Fishers (twice), Zionsville, Avon and Brownsburg and a close loss to Carmel.
Both Marshall and Sieber are 20-4 for the season.
That left the match in the hands of Delta doubles.
The No. 1 team of senior Kate Manor and junior Alexa Bratton played with confidence and focused energy and rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over returning first-team All-State Doubles players Jenna Berry and Bella Rivera. The Shamrock duo’s only other losses this season were to top-ranked Guerin Catholic, #3 Carmel (two close losses), and #4 Park Tudor (three sets).
Manor and Bratton improved to 22-2 with their regional-clinching victory.
The No. 2 doubles team of seniors Rowan Hinds and Elizabeth Bamidele overcame a slow start to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 over Kendall Omer and Rayna Roy. Hinds and Bamidele are now 24-0 this spring. This match was the first time all season they had dropped a set, but they showed great poise in regrouping and dominating the rest of the match.
Delta and Homestead tried to play on two occasions this season but the match was rained out both times. Saturday’s forecast is sunshine, so the teams will finally get to meet with a trip to state on the line.
Delta (19-2) and will be chasing its seventh trip to the state finals. Homestead won its sixth straight regional title and has 16 appearances in the state finals, second only to Carmel in state history.
Complete Results
DELTA 4, WESTFIELD 1
Singles
- Sophie Crabtree (D) lost to Isla Harvey, 0-6, 0-6
- Olivia Marshall (D) def. Sloane Seyferth, 6-0, 6-1
- Stella Sieber (D) def. Alxis Halliburton, 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
- Kate Manor / Alexa Bratton (D) def. Jenna Berry / Bella Rivera, 6-3, 6-3
- Rowan Hinds / Elizabeth Bamidele (D) def. Rayna Roy / Kendall Omer, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2