Delta played its best match of the season overall but came up a bit short in a 4-1 loss to 9th-ranked Fishers in the Homestead Semi-State on Saturday morning.
Seniors Tynan Dishman and Maggie Manor won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles to qualify for the individual state doubles tournament. They will take a 24-2 record into the State Doubles on Friday, June 11 at North Central HS.
The 12th-ranked Eagles finish the season with a team record of 20-4 along with conference, sectional and regional titles. The four losses were to the teams currently ranked 6-7-8-9 in the final poll. Those teams were No. 6 Homestead, No. 7 Hamilton Southeastern, No. 8 Center Grove and No. 9 Fishers.
The three Eagle singles players had their best day of the season collectively.
At No. 3 singles, junior Maggie Hunt competed evenly with Fishers’ Caroline Ober, who had been the Tigers’ hottest player of late. Ober beat HSE 6-2, 6-1 in the sectional and beat Cathedral in the regional.
Hunt dropped the first set 4-6, then hung tough to win the second set 7-6, including a 7-0 sweep in the tiebreaker. Then, since the team match already had been decided, the girls played a 10-point tiebreaker for the match. Ober won 10-6.
Hunt finishes her season with a fine record of 20 wins, 6 losses.
Senior Abby Bamidele also played well at No. 2 singles. She faced hard-hitting Izzy Mokra and extended the first set to a tiebreaker. Mokra won the match 7-6 (4), 6-1. Bamidele finished with an 18-8 record.
Junior Gwen Clark faced a tough challenge at No. 1 singles, as Fishers senior Lucy Loy is 22-0 for the season and has signed with the University of Nebraska. Clark kept battling and managed to win three games in the second set.
At No. 2 doubles, senior Sara Cardemon and sophomore Janet Wegener dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision. The Fishers players proved to be very consistent with their strokes and made few errors. Cardemon and Wegener finished the season with a 20-4 record.
The IHSAA Team State Finals will be next weekend in Indianapolis. The matchups will be:
#1 Carmel vs. #3 Park Tudor
#6 Homestead vs unranked Sullivan
#9 Fishers vs #10 Jasper
#2 South Bend St. Joseph vs. #4 Evansville Memorial
The State Singles and State Doubles fields then will be finalized after the team state finals and individual regionals are played June 5. Singles and Doubles will be June 11-12 at North Central HS courts.
Delta will be competing in the State Singles and Doubles event for the 28th time in school history in boys’ and girls’ tennis. The Eagles have been State Singles Runner-Up once and State Doubles Runners-Up six times, including last fall when Brandon Jackson and Walker Boyle placed second in the boys’ State Doubles.
There will be between six and 10 teams left in the doubles field, depending on how matches come out next weekend at team state.
Results:
- Gwen Clark (D) lost to Lucy Loy (F) 0-6, 3-6
- Abby Bamidele (D) lost to Izzy Mokra (F) 6-7 (4), 1-6
- Maggie Hunt (D) lost to Caroline Ober (F) 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-10
- Maggie Manor/Tynan Dishman (D) def. Addy Kolb/Kirah Fuller (F) 6-2, 6-2
- Sara Cardemon / Janet Wegener (D) lost to Meredith Ober/Madelyn Barron (F) 2-6, 3-6