New regional site, same result.

The Eagles competed at the Noblesville Regional for the first time and came away with a 4-1 semifinal victory over Jay County on a hot Tuesday evening.

Previously, Delta had been assigned to the Marion Regional for more than a decade and before that had played at the Muncie Regional at Ball State.  Delta has won 25 of the past 28 regional titles.

The Eagles (17-5) will chase another title today (Wednesday) when they play 24th-ranked Noblesville at 4:45 p.m. in the championship match.

First off the court in Tuesday’s opening round was senior Jake Bilby, who won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

The No. 1 doubles team of seniors Dalton Royal and Preston Shanayda then claimed a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Clinching the third point for the team victory was the No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Aaron Elliott and freshman Tyce Dishman. They won 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Junior Kody Vest then put the finishing touches on a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles.

The closest match came at No. 1 singles, where two seniors — Simon Marlow for Delta and Abraham Dirksen for Jay County — battled for three sets.  Marlow won the opening set 6-3, but Dirksen rallied to win the final two sets 6-3 and 6-2.  Dirksen will advance individually in the singles tournament.

In the other semifinal match Tuesday, Noblesville eliminated Frankton 3-2. Sam Barr and Max Barr won at the two top singles positions for Frankton.

Delta and Noblesville have never met in a dual match in boys’ tennis.