By Jackson Teal
Acing serves on the court, and acing tests in the classrooms.
Doing both makes for a perfect match.
This pursuit of excellence in both fields has become a tradition for the Delta girls’ tennis team.
“This is a standard Coach Cleland has set for the girls,” athletic director Lynde Bratton said. “He holds academics to as high of a standard as he does wins on the court.”
As the players have come and gone, some things have remained constant: the academic strength in the girls and postseason championships.
“The nature of the game typically attracts and requires players who are high-achieving academically,” head coach Tim Cleland said. “It’s not always the quickest and fastest person who wins; sometimes it’s the one with the most strategy.”
The girls are currently on a seven-year streak of team academic all-state, which requires a varsity team average GPA of at least 3.6 on a 4.0 scale. In those seven years, the girls have sent the full team or individual players to the state finals four times.
Senior Kate Manor was one of those players who qualified for state. This trip to Carmel in her freshman season took place after a dominant victory at No. 1 doubles over Homestead in the semi-state championship.
Manor’s debut season included a trip to the state finals, earning all-state doubles honors, and academic prowess.
Although Manor works for success on the court, she balances that with taking the needed time to keep her academics to her standard of maintaining all A’s.
Another standard Manor has set for herself is being an all-state doubles player.
In Manor’s three completed seasons, she has gone three for three as an all-state doubles player.
She has already had two different partners: Janet Wegener in her freshman season and Kelsey Vest in her sophomore and junior years. Due to Wegener and Vest both graduating, Manor is playing with another new partner for her senior year.
“It doesn’t matter who I play with,” Manor said. “I know that any of the other girls and I will do our best to win.”
Manor’s partner at the start of this season is junior Alexa Bratton.
Bratton will be playing her third year of varsity tennis, but this time there will be a big difference. She played No. 2 doubles as a freshman and sophomore, racking up a 41-10 record.
Now, in her junior season, she will be representing the lead doubles position for the Eagles.
With this opportunity being presented, she is now focusing on the little things moving forward.
“I try to take every match one match at a time,” Bratton said. “I just have to remember to take nothing for granted and have a little bit of fun on the court.”
Bratton acknowledges that the switch could come with some growing pains. The leap from No. 2 to No. 1 doubles entails many tiny details, including a faster pace of play, a need for greater confidence at the net, and competition against more experienced players.
A player who has had success against experienced players is senior Elizabeth Bamidele. Bamidele played No. 1 singles for the Eagles in her junior season, accumulating 15 wins at the difficult position.
Bamidele credits these wins to hard work and inner-team accountability.
“Being surrounded by a group of people who put in the same work as you helps elevate us as a whole,” Bamidele said.
Bamidele believes that to be true on the tennis court as well as in the classroom.
“In the classroom, we all just build each other up, making us better individually and as a group,” Bamidele said.
Bamidele has built herself up to earning the prestigious Delaware County Lilly Endowment Scholarship, which grants full tuition for four years of undergraduate study at any Indiana college.
Only two seniors in the county are presented with this honor, making it a challenging competition.
This is not the only time Bamidele has been launched into a tough battle.
Being the No. 1 singles player on the Eagle roster last year meant she faced a schedule among the toughest in the state, playing about 10 state-ranked teams, which paired her against several of the best players in the state.
For example, she played against both the 2025 State Champion (Samaya Smith of Warren Central) and the 2025 State Runner-Up (Alexandra Grilliot of Westfield).
This tough position not only shaped her performance but also formed a mindset. As a singles player last year, she didn’t have a teammate to keep morale high, so she relied more heavily on strategy.
This season, Bamidele won’t be on an island. In the season opener versus Franklin Community, Bamidele debuted her senior season at No. 2 doubles with senior Rowan Hinds.
Although this is how they started, Bamidele and Hinds both remain in contention for the No. 1 doubles position as final positions are not determined yet.
No matter their positions, the common goal for the girls is to make it out of the difficult Noblesville regional.
The regional includes a dominant Westfield team, which made the IHSAA final four last year. Westfield has beaten Delta in two consecutive years at the Noblesville Regional.
Hinds has had to suffer these losses and is hoping for a different outcome this season.
“It’s our last shot, so we’ll go in with a lot more confidence, and play to our strengths,” Hinds said.
Hinds has been a part of the program for many years now, starting her journey in elementary school after hearing about tennis camps from friends.
Being around the program for so long makes her one of the most experienced on the court.
Hinds has been varsity all four years of high school and has had 20 or more wins in her three completed seasons.
This makes her a threat to break the all-time varsity victory record of 86. Hinds believes that her mindset plays a big role in her adding more wins to her resume.
“I move past individual points, because if you hold on to a single mistake, it will make for an overall bad match,” Hinds said. “If I can stay positive, I can win a lot of matches.”
Coach Cleland and his players throughout the years have formed a culture where they do just that.
The girls’ tennis squad has won 32 out of the last 33 sectional titles and 17 regional championships in the last 25 years.
Freshman Sophie Crabtree hopes to do her part in keeping the championship culture alive.
Last summer, Crabtree moved with her family from Hauser Junior-Senior High School near Columbus, Ind., to Delta for better tennis opportunities.
Crabtree also wanted to be coached by her great-uncle, Coach Cleland.
This is a unique experience for Cleland and Crabtree. In Cleland’s 36-year coaching tenure, he has never experienced coaching a family member.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Cleland said. “You can determine how people react to things better when you’ve been around them a lot.”
Crabtree started the season in the No. 1 singles position for the Eagles.
This is a tough position for any player due to the intensity of the position, but especially for a player new to the program and the high school tennis scene in general.
The jump from middle school to high school tennis is paramount. Due to this, Crabtree is doing her best to adjust.
“I just want to do my best to help the team win,” Crabtree said. “It’s a big step and I’m ready for it.”
