The recent improvement of the’ boys’ tennis team was on full display Wednesday evening in the Eagles’ 5-0 varsity and 7-1 JV victories at Lapel.

Lapel, which won the Madison County championship earlier this season, entered with an 8-2 varsity record and 7-1 JV record. But Delta came out strong and dictated much of the play throughout the evening.

At No. 1 singles, senior Kody Vest rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kaleb Barnett, a standout freshman who was unbeaten for the season prior to the match.

At No. 2 singles, senior Owen Cupp put together perhaps the best match of his career with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Hogan Bair. A junior, Bair had played No. 1 singles much of the season before recently trading places with Barnett.

Completing the singles sweep was freshman Luke Atkinson, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lapel junior Quinn Wilkins.  A year ago, Wilkins won his match at No. 3 singles over the Eagles.

First off the court was the No. 1 doubles team of juniors Brady Williams and Ben Miller.  They applied constant pressure in a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Lapel juniors Tyler Cash and Cam Novac.

At No. 2 doubles, Lapel put up a stiff fight.  Delta junior Aaron Elliott and sophomore Tyce Dishman trailed 4-5 in both sets but recovered for a 7-5, 7-5 victory over senior Bode McClintock and junior Aidan Gooding.

Highlights from the JV match included a 6-0 singles victory by James Root, a 6-0 doubles victory by Ayden Mitchell and Bryce Carmichael, and a 6-5 tiebreaker win by Alexander Smith and Rylan Oliver.  Other winners were Colten Cruea in singles and the doubles teams of Kam Swoboda/Kaden Crist, Daniel Tokar/Denys Krushenytskyi, and John Atkinson/Graham Sieber.

The Eagles are now 5-4 overall with five wins in the last seven matches. The next match is Thursday evening in a JV only match against Yorktown at the DHS courts at 5:45 p.m.  The varsity and JV then will compete in the Kokomo Invitational on Saturday.

Complete results

Varsity
DELTA 5, LAPEL 0

Varsity Singles

1. Kody Vest (D) def. Kaleb Barnett (L), 6-1, 6-3
2. Owen Cupp (D) ldef. Hogan Bair (L), 6-3, 6-1
3. Luke Atkinson (D) def. Quinn Wilkins (L), 6-1, 6-2

Varsity Doubles

1. Brady Williams/Ben Miller (D) def. Tyler Cash/Cam Novak (L), 6-2, 6-2
2. Aaron Elliott/Tyce Dishman (D) def. Bode McClintock/Aidan Gooding (L), 7-5, 7-5

Junior Varsity
DELTA 7,  LAPEL 1

JV Singles

1. Colten Cruea won 6-3
2. James Root won 6-0

JV Doubles

1. Bryce Carmichael/Ayden Mitchell won 6-0
2. Kaden Crist/Kam Swoboda won 6-4
3. John Atkinson/Graham Sieber won 6-3
4. Alex Smith/Rylan Oliver won 6-5 (2)
5. Daniel Tokar/Denys Krushenytskyi won 6-3
6. Roman Ashcraft/Andrew Alexander lost 4-6