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Just Happened ...
EAGLES WIN 13th STRAIGHT MATCH: Delta
limited Muncie Burris to a total of just seven games in the semifinals of the Delta Sectional on
Thursday evening. The Eagles, on a 13-match winning streak, now will
play Yorktown for the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Callie Worthington and the doubles teams of Marissa Morris-Natalie
Alexander and Teaghan Dishman-Lynne Costello all won by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
Morris and Alexander collected their 20th win of the season against only
two losses.
Worthington is 18-3. Costello and Dishman are 17-2.
Ashley Loffer won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to move to 12-10.
Madison Ashman won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and is 19-3.
Delta (18-1) will try for its 20th sectional title in the last 21 years.
For details of the match, see the LATEST MATCH RESULTS box below.
EAGLES ELIMINATE BEARCATS: Delta shut out
Muncie Central 5-0 in the opening round of the Delta Sectional on
Wednesday afternoon. Two matches went to three sets, but Ashley
Loffer won 6-2 in the third set at No. 1 singles and Lynne Costello-Teaghan
Dishman won 6-0 in the third set of No. 2 doubles.
First off the court was Madison Ashman, who won 6-4, 6-0 over Meghan
Jackson at No. 2 singles. Next to finish was Callie Worthington,
who won 6-2, 6-1 over Audrey Kirby at No. 3 singles.
Clinching the match with a third position victory was the No. 1 doubles
team of Natalie Alexander and Marissa Morris. They beat Natalie
Cunningham and Taylor Rabel 6-3, 6-2. This was the night's marquee
matchup as Alexander and Morris entered with an 18-2 record and
Cunningham and Rabel entered with a 15-1 record.
Delta (17-1) will take a 12-match winning streak into the sectional
semifinals against Muncie Burris at 4:45 p.m. Thursday.
ANOTHER GOOD ROAD WIN FOR DELTA: The girls' tennis team
finished an outstanding regular season with another hard-fought road win
over a quality opponent.
The Eagles made the long journey to Fort Wayne Concordia, where they
played the 26th-ranked Saints on their Senior Night. Due to the
long ride and late start, the Eagles chose to go without the normal
20-25 minute hitting practice prior to official warmup.
Still, the girls dug deep and pulled out a 3-2 victory to finish the
regular season with a 16-1 record.
It was the third victory over a state-ranked opponent this season
(Bishop Chatard, FW Carroll, and FW Concordia). The Eagles' only
loss was to state-ranked Terre Haute North in a tight 3-2 decision.
Delta takes an 11-match winning streak into the sectional.
EAGLES WIN CONFERENCE TITLE AND TOURNEY TITLE ON
SAME DAY!: The girls' tennis team enjoyed an extremely rare
day Saturday by winning Delta Invitational and Hoosier Heritage
Conference championships on the same day!
Here's how it happened:
Saturday morning, the Eagles defeated Shelbyville 5-0 to wrap up a
perfect 7-0 league season. The highlight of the Shelbyville match
was No. 1 singles player Ashley Loffer, who rallied from a 3-6, 2-5
deficit to win her match 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
After an hour break, the 20th-ranked Eagles played 30th-ranked Fort
Wayne Carroll in the finals of the Delta Invitational. The first
two rounds of the 8-team invite were played on April 28, when Delta beat
27th-ranked Bishop Chatard in one semifinal match and Carroll beat
7th-ranked Cathedral in the other semifinal.
Playing its best match of the season, Delta hammered Carroll 4-1. One
highlight was Madison Ashman's 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles. But
the Eagles were sharp everywhere, giving up only 14 games total at No. 2
singles, No. 3 singles, and both doubles.
On Friday night, the Eagles dominated Rushville 5-0 for another
conference win. The match was the 300th victory in girls' tennis
for Coach Cleland, making him the fourth coach in state history to reach
300 or more career wins in both boys' tennis and girls' tennis.
In a four-day stretch, Delta won five matches, beating Yorktown (4-1),
Center Grove (3-2), Rushville (5-0), Shelbyvillle (5-0), and FW Carroll
(4-1).
EAGLES GET VICTORY OVER CENTER GROVE:
Delta gained a narrow 3-2 victory over Indianapolis tennis power Center
Grove on Thursday at Mt. Vernon courts. The Eagles lost 0-5 to
Center Grove a year ago, so it was a nice turnaround this time.
Sophomore Madison Ashman's result was an example of that turnaround.
Madison won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles over a girl that she lost to last
spring. Senior Callie Worthington won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles
and was first off the court.
Juniors Natalie Alexander and Marissa Morris picked up a very big
victory at No. 1 doubles by a 6-4, 6-4 score in the last match on the
court, breaking a 2-2 team tie. Natalie and Marissa lost badly at
No. 2 doubles a year ago to Center Grove, so it was another big
turnaround yesterday for them. They were playing the same doubles
team that beat Delta 6-4, 6-1 last spring.
Delta's varsity moves to 12-1 for the season.
The JV team lost 6-5 to Center Grove for their first loss of the season.
The JV now is 13-1-1.
EAGLES SMASH CANCER! ... AND SMASH
YORKTOWN, TOO!!:
The Delta-Yorktown smashcancer match encountered a rain delay of more
than hour on Wednesday night at the DHS courts, but in the end there
were two winners. On the court, the Eagles beat the Tigers 4-1
varsity and 12-7 JV. Off the court, the two rivals combined to
raise more than $1,000 for the Amercian Cancer Society Relay for Life
program.
All 90+ team members wore special #SmashCancer T-shirts with multiple
colors representing a wide range of cancers. More than 200
additional shirts were sold to students and fans. The match
attracted the largest crowd at a DHS home tennis match in recent memory.
In
a ceremony prior to the match, several cancer survivors and family
members hit out "honorary first serves." Breast cancer survivor Beth Parris (whose sons Aaron and Isaac played tennis at DHS);
bone cancer survivor Rob Robbins (whose sons Rob and Kelly played tennis at DHS);
sarcoma survivor Katy Vasalakis (current top player for Yorktown); and
John Thomas Devine, grandson of Delta teacher Tom Devine (who passed
away from colon cancer in January) hit the honorary first serves.
RAIN + RUSHVILLE = RESCHEDULE:
The match between Delta and Rushville was rained out Monday afternoon.
The teams will now meet at 5 p.m. Friday at Rushville.
JV DOMINATES AT EAST NOBLE INVITE:
The junior varsity team enjoyed a great day Saturday at the East Noble
JV Invitational with victories over Fairfield (5-0), East Noble (4-1)
and Fort Wayne Canterbury (5-0). The JV team now boasts a 12-0-1
record.
SENIORS SHINE ON SENIOR DAY:
The Eagles smacked Pendleton Heights 7-0 to celebrate Senior Day on a
very warm Thursday evening. Pendleton won only a half-dozen games
in the seven matches.
Seniors collected victories throughout the lineup. Senior Callie
Worthington won at No. 3 singles; seniors Lynne Costello and Megan
Buckner teamed up to win at No. 2 doubles; senior Alexa Lewis was
successful in her first-ever varsity match (teaming with junior Jenny
Wegener at No. 3 doubles); and senior exchange student Isabela Zanelato
got a victory at No. 4 singles.
The 18-th ranked varsity improved to 10-1.
The JV team prevailed 7-2 and remained unbeaten at 9-0-1 this
spring.
EAGLES EDGE 27TH-RANKED BISHOP CHATARD:
The Eagles claimed their first victory over a state-ranked team this
season by edging 27th-ranked Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 3-2 in
Saturday's semifinals of the Delta Invitational.
Also in the invitational, Delta swept Batesville 5-0. The
championship match against Fort Wayne Carroll was postponed due to
weather. The teams are trying to make up the match on May 12, but
it is not yet official. Carroll upended 7th-ranked Indianapolis
Cathedral 3-2 in the semifinals after beating Yorktown 4-1 in the
opening round.
At the halfway point of the season, Delta owns an 8-1 record, stands in
first place in the Hoosier Heritage Conference, and is ranked 19th.
The JV team is 7-0-1.
SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO CRAWFORDSVILLE: The
Eagles performed well on April 21 at the powerful eight-team Crawfordsville
Invitational. Delta reached the finals in three of the five
flights and placed third in the other two flights. The tournament
featured two of Indiana's top seven teams.
The day's highlight belonged to sophomore Madison Ashman, who
upended Floyd Central's Carmen Schreiber at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 4-6,
(10-4). Floyd Central, ranked third in the state, won the
invitational. They eliminated Delta in the IHSAA State Finals last
spring and returned all varsity players from that team.
The Eagles finished runner-up at No. 2 singles, No. 3 singles, and No. 1
doubles and placed third at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles. For
the team, the Eagles won 10 matches and lost 5.
EAGLES WIN ON TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY:
The varsity Eagles topped Mt. Vernon 4-1 on Wednesday, April 18 in a Teacher Appreciation Day
match. Delta improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Hoosier
Heritage Conference.
About 20 teachers, administrators, and staff members were honored before
the match as each team member selected a favorite adult to recognize.
Students in the top 25% of the class rankings and/or on the latest Honor
Roll also were recognized at the pre-match ceremony.
DHS TENNIS RAISES OVER $3,000 AT FIRST DINNER!!!:
We got off to a great start with the
Delta Tennis Community Service Dinner Club, which is an ambitious new
project in which the tennis families will gather to support local
charities.
The first dinner on Friday, April 6 attracted between 80 and 100 people
to the home of Mike and Wynde Ashman in Landings Trail addition.
Counting a late donation early this week, we raised $1,150 for Blood
'N' Fire Ministries of Muncie! Delta graduate Bob Ball, director
of Blood 'N' Fire, explained what the ministry does and how it can use
the money.
In addition to the generous donation to Blood 'N' Fire, we also raised
$2,000 through raffles, auctions, and contributions to Coach Cleland's
new Delta Tennis Leadership/Service Scholarship fund. This scholarship
for DHS seniors will be administered through the Delaware Community
Schools Educational Foundation.
Also, we had a pleasant surprise visit from Seren Frost, a Delta
graduate who runs L.A.C.E.S., a not-for-profit group that uses soccer to
minister to war-ravaged Liberia. James, the Liberian director of
L.A.C.E.S., also attended the dinner and spoke to our group about his
experiences as a child soldier in the 14-year Liberian civil war. This
was his first visit to the United States.
Former DHS Tennis standout Stephen Hopkins, songwriter for the band
When, Not If, played guitar and sang several original songs as well as
two covers. He was well-received by teens and parents alike.
We will be doing four dinners per year -- Spring, Summer, Fall and
Winter. Each dinner will rotate to a different teammate's home. We
expect this to develop into a major tradition of helping those in our
community.
Wynde Ashman and Al Holdren are coordinating the details of the dinners,
with help from Coach Cleland and other parents.
This year's girls' tennis team theme is "First Serve" (logo
above). We are
excited about the opportunity to serve others first!
ZACH ERVIN GETS VICTORY OVER
BALL STATE:
Former DHS Tennis star Zach Ervin, now a senior member of Butler
University's men's tennis team, recently picked up a victory at No. 4
singles against Ball State. He beat Alexander Brym in a third-set
tiebreaker. Zach was the only winner for the Bulldogs.
 
HAYLEY HALL, TAYLOR CARDINI JOIN
COACHING STAFF:
Two new assistant coaches have been hired for the 2012
girls' tennis season. Former DHS Tennis players Hayley Hall and
Taylor Cardini are serving as assistant coaches this spring.
Hayley is a 2007 graduate who was a four-time All-State Singles player
and a three-time State Singles finalist. Runner-up in the State Singles
as a junior, Hayley is the all-time career victory leader for DHS
Tennis. Her junior tennis career included national rankings and
multiple sportsmanship awards at major tournaments throughout the
Midwest. She went on to play No. 1 singles at Ball State University,
where she currently is in graduate school. She has taught tennis
in Chicago and at the Muncie Family YMCA as well as the Tim Cleland
Tennis Camp.
Taylor is a 2010 graduate. She was a varsity doubles player at
Delta and has been a frequent instructor at the Tim Cleland Tennis Camp
and at middle school tennis clinics. She is the 2010 recipient of
the Grandma Peggy Brown Spirit of Caring Award for DHS Tennis. Taylor is
a sophomore at Ball State in elementary education.
ETHAN/EVAN FINISH THIRD AT STATE FINALS
and MAKE ALL-STATE DOUBLES FIRST TEAM!:
Senior Ethan Grove and junior Evan Rodenberger concluded
a great season by finishing third in the IHSAA State Doubles Tournament
on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Park Tudor HS courts.
Ethan and Evan defeated Plymouth 6-1, 6-2 in Friday night's
quarterfinals. They lost 4-6, 2-6 to Floyd Central in Saturday
morning's semifinals. They then gained a 6-3, 6-4 victory over
Evansville North in Saturday afternoon's third-place match.
Ethan and Evan finished 28-3. Also on Saturday, they were selected
to the All-State Doubles First Team, which is an honor reserved for only
the Top 10 doubles teams in the state.
This represents the 20th time during Coach Cleland's 39 seasons as DHS
Tennis boys' and girls' coach that a season has ended at the State
Finals (team, singles, or doubles).
Here are the Eagles' previous best finishes during Coach Cleland's
tenure:
State Team Finals (four times at State) -- best finish is third twice
State Doubles (12 times at State) -- best finish is runner-up four times
and third four times
State Singles (seven times at State) -- best finish is runner-up once
and third once.
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Coming Up
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REGISTER FOR TIM CLELAND TENNIS
CAMP:
Interested in coming to this
summer's 17th annual Tim Cleland Tennis Camp? Visit this link to
get started! Tim Cleland
Tennis Camp
TENTATIVE 2012 BOYS' TENNIS
SCHEDULE RELEASED:
The 2012 boys' tennis schedule for
DHS Tennis has been updated on the website. The schedule is
tentative at this point.
Schedule
SUMMER TENNIS MEETING PLANNED FOR
MAY 18th:
There will be a brief Summer
Tennis Meeting after practice on Friday, May 18th. The meeting
will last 20 to 30 minutes starting at 6:30 p.m. in the tennis shelter.
The meeting is for all DHS Tennis boys and girls players for the
2012-2013 school year. This includes incoming freshmen. Please
pass the word.
We will distribute schedules that show all of the summer tennis
improvement opportunities.
#smashcancer
TWO MORE WINNERS IN e.a.g.l.e.s. CHARACTER PROGRAM:
On
Monday, May 14, two players became the next recipients of
special T-shirts in Delta
Tennis Coach Tim Cleland's new character
development program, called
e.a.g.l.e.s.
Players are recognized for their skills in the areas of Effort,
Attitude, Generosity, Leadership, Enthusiasm, and Service.
Junior Sam Zachary was honored for Leadership. The charismatic Sam
won 16 matches this spring, primarily at No. 2 singles JV. She
works hard and is fun to be around.
Senior Isabela Zanelato was honored for Attitude. Isabela, an
exchange student from Brazil, genuinely enjoyed matches and practices
and got steadily better throughout the season. She won against
some solid opponents late in the season and finished with a great record
and a lot of wonderful memories!
Dri-fit
T-shirts featuring the below design will be awarded to selected players
each week prior to practice or matches. The T-shirts are in a
variety of colors.
This program replaces the school's Building Foundations program, which
is no longer offered. "We've got a lot of players who do some
amazing things on and off the court, and we need to be sure to
constantly point out what they're doing right," Coach Cleland said.
PLAYER PHOTOS:
The individual photos taken recently of players,
managers and coaches have been posted. Check out the
roster and the player
bios.
BOOSTER
ASSIGNMENTS: Parent Booster Club
forms and $25 dues should be turned in to Coach Cleland by March 15.
For a list of Booster Club assignments so far, see this
Booster
link.
 
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT TENNIS CAMP:
A record total of 249 campers
attended this summer's Tim Cleland Tennis Camp sessions!
Visit the camp website for a list of tournament winners, campers
of the week, and photos from all three weeks of camp.
Several hundred outstanding action photos are now available by
visiting the link below. The photos were taken by Joni
Sanders! Thanks Joni!
Official Tim Cleland Tennis Camp website
See 2011 Camp Photos here
700 VICTORIES FOR COACH
CLELAND:
Coach Tim Cleland became the fifth tennis coach in Indiana
history to reach 700 career varsity victories when the Eagles shut out
Kokomo 5-0 during the Fall 2011 season. Coach Cleland's teams have won
413 matches in boys' tennis and 287 matches in girls' tennis. His
overall varsity coaching record is 700 wins, 123 losses in 39 seasons as
coach of the Eagles.
Ed Yarbrough of Jasper is the all-time state leader with 885 wins over
58 seasons. He passed away in 2010.
Others with 700+ wins:
Rick Miller of Floyd Central, 823 in 50 seasons
Bill Hedges of Lawrence North, 766 in 69 seasons
Steve Cline of Southport, 753 in 55 seasons (retired)
29 PLAYERS ON
THIRD NINE WEEKS
HONOR ROLL: The
Honor Roll for the third Nine Week Grading Period has been announced. A total of
29 boys and girls on the current teams made the Honor Roll --
congratulations!
Here's the list:
ALL A+ HONOR ROLL
Sophomores -- Bradley Wuthrich
ALL A HONOR ROLL
Seniors -- Lynne Costello, Austin Lemna, Seth Myers, Bond
St. John
Juniors -- Ashley Loffer, Evan Rodenberger, Katherine Smith, Rebecca Schooley
Sophomores -- Madison Ashman
Freshmen -- Teaghan
Dishman, Kaylin Gibson, Kiera Helm, Nick Wilson
ALL A-B HONOR ROLL
Seniors -- Megan Buckner, Ethan Grove, Alexa Lewis,
Isabela Zanelato
Juniors -- Natalie
Alexander, David Hoopingarner, Maddy Walker, Jenny Wegener
Sophomores -- Jordan Fenwick, Shelby Richardson
Freshmen -- Sydney Dunnuck, Jay Robillard, Jacey Price, Madison Savage,
Maggie Thompson
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