Latest Match Update

#11 Zionsville 4, #25 Delta 1

Zionsville, with five seniors among the seven varsity players, played like a veteran, seasoned team.  At times, Delta played like a team of all underclassmen.  The result was a 4-1 victory for Zionsville in the Homestead Semi-State on Saturday.

Delta did not come away empty-handed, however, as junior No. 1 singles player Ben Bryan won his match to advance to the individual singles state finals.  Ben won 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 over senior J.P. Dwyer and moved to 20-1 for the season.

 Ben played on Friday, Oct. 23 at Park Tudor HS in Indianapolis.  He lost 6-1, 6-3 to Ray Leonard of Bloomington North in the quarterfinals.  Ben is the third DHS boys' tennis player to compete in the state singles finals. Kaus Christopher finished third in both 1990 and 1991.  Zach Ervin placed fourth in 2006.

In the other matches Saturday, Delta managed to win only 11 games.  Sophomore Bond St. John, filling in at No. 2 singles, lost 0-6, 1-6 to senior Conner Dunn.  Junior Youngwoo Han hung tough in most of the games at No. 3 singles but lost 2-6, 3-6 to junior Ben Kahn.

At No. 1 doubles, junior Tate Dishman and sophomore Ethan Grove faced the task of playing the two-time state doubles champions, seniors Joe Hammond and Nick Laconi.  Tate and Ethan lost 1-6, 2-6.

Zionsville also was dominant at No. 2 doubles, where senior Max Watson and sophomore John Formulak controlled DHS juniors Brock Windsor and Zach Richardson, 1-6, 1-6.

#25 Delta 4,  Norwell 1

The 25th-ranked Delta Eagles won their 15th consecutive regional championship Thursday evening by beating Norwell 4-1 in a hard-fought match.

Due to rain, the match was played indoors at the Howard County Indoor Tennis Center in Greentown.

It was the team's 60th consecutive sectional or regional match victory, dating back to 1995.

Sophomore Bond St. John at No. 3 singles made an outstanding comeback to win 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 over a Norwell senior.  Bond saved three match points in a row in the second-set tiebreaker.

Junior Ben Bryan got things started with a decisive 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles.  Ben is 19-1 this fall.

Next off the court were junior Tate Dishman and sophomore Ethan Grove, who won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.  It was their 18th win of the season.

Norwell then got on the scoreboard with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over junior Jordan Chambers.  Jordan battled well but came up slightly short.

With Delta leading the team match 2-1, Bond St. John then rallied to force a third set.

This was an important development in the match because it took some of the pressure off juniors Brock Windsor and Zach Richardson at No. 2 doubles.  They prevailed 6-4, 6-3 for the third point that clinched the 15th straight regional title.

St. John then rode the momentum to a three-set win to account for the final score of 4-1.

The regional streak is the third-longest ever in Indiana for any sport (boys or girls).

Evansville Mater Dei     30 straight wrestling regionals
Center Grove              18 straight boys' tennis regionals
Bellmont                          15 straight wrestling regionals
Delta                            15 straight boys' tennis regionals

NEXT MATCH:  The varsity finished with a 17-7 record.