Central’s Rebecca Hollowell defeats Halie Hardwick during their match at the Delta Sectional.
MUNCIE – Sectional time is Delta tennis’ time.
All the Eagle girls have done is won 22 of the past 23 titles, so the tradition is strong to say the least. But Emma Snider had not fully been a part of that until Thursday.
She did her part with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, leading host Delta (20-2) to a clean sweep of Burris. Not bad for someone in their first sectional as a No. 1 player.
To make that clear, it’s the first sectional for the freshman, happening to come with her at the top spot, adjusting to top foes and high school all at once.
“That was pretty stressful too because I was home-schooled,” said Snider, whose team advanced to face a Yorktown squad that edged past Central 3-2. “I never had been in a public school until this year.
“That, on top of the season, was very stressful at the beginning. But the seniors, especially, on the team — Maggie Thompson, Teaghan (Dishman), Kaylin (Gibson) — they’ve all really, really helped me adjust.”
Keep in mind, No. 1 life is far from easy. You’re talking about someone going from pre-high school training to facing the best every opponent has to offer. She’d worked with strong coaches and played in USTA tournaments, and when she decided she was serious about tennis, she chose to come to Delta.
Finding a spot atop the lineup was a surprise to her as much as anyone.
With that in mind her 14-8 record says something, especially with how the singles players behind her flourished (including fellow freshman Grace Belangee at No. 3).
“Until you play it, you don’t appreciate it enough,” said Delta coach Tim Cleland, adding he was pleased with how his team didn’t take the opening round for granted. “For an outsider just looking at it, it’s just singles like all the others. But rarely does a team not have a strong player at No. 1 singles.
“She doesn’t get many nights off, that’s for sure, it says a lot about her toughness mentally and physically to answer the bell night after night.”
Delta’s dominance (three games lost in five matches) means the almost-expected meeting with Yorktown Friday at 4:45 p.m.
The Tigers (13-3) got pushed in spots. They took a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Central’s Rebecca Hollowell at No. 1 singles, while Kaylee Jones out-dueled Maddie Minniear at the No. 3 singles spot in three sets. But Yorktown’s second doubles pairing of Taylor Smith and Deena Elsheikh closed down a 6-4, 6-3 win, and Kate Avila and the top doubles group pushed the Tigers into the finals.
The foes know each other well, as Yorktown pushed Delta to the limit before falling 3-2 in last season’s sectional final. Tigers coach Bob Darby said there’s some benefit to getting more of a battle, and his team has to rally to lift up those who took losses before Friday’s showdown.
“It’s good to have good matches and tight matches before another match, before a match that we know we’re kind of out-gunned,” Darby said. “Otherwise then you’re not really being challenged enough to get the juices flowing and get that competitive edge.”
Jay County Sectional
No. 2 doubles team Abbey Reier and Abby Saxman pulled out the three-set victory to give Jay County the sweep against Randolph Southern in the first round of sectionals. The Patriots will play Winchester, which swept Union City 5-0, in the finals Friday at 5 p.m. The winning team consisted of Grace Retter, Emily White, Miranda Winningham, Makenzie Winger, Leah Wren, Megan Brown, Shelby Moreland and Leah Malkey.