The Central Catholic girls tennis team of Maverick Delp and Ava McQuillin finished in third place in the Division II state tournament Saturday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
Their finish is the highest by any Irish doubles team or singles player in history.
Delp and McQuillin lost a tough semifinal match to Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown’s Isabella Daverio and Rebecca Wolf, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The duo rebounded in its third-place match to beat Richfield Revere’s Amy Lazbin and Morgan Dobos, 6-1, 6-0. The pair finished the season 13-1 in doubles.
This was Delp’s fourth trip to the Division II state tournament. The previous three years, she teamed with cousin Sophia Spinazze, and they placed fourth in 2015.
Delp said teaming up with McQuillin and the chemistry they developed made their run special.
“It was an awesome way to come out and come to states at the end of this season,” she said. “It was really special to get to play with Ava, so overall it was an awesome experience with great memories and some awesome tennis.”
The Delp family has had a remarkable run since 2008. Since then, at least one sibling has appeared in the state tournament for the Irish each calendar year.
McQuillin, the three-time Three Rivers Athletic Conference player of the year, normally is the No. 1 singles player for the Irish. She was 21-1 during the season at that spot.
While she wasn’t used to playing doubles, teaming up with Delp made the experience a special one.
“I usually don’t play doubles, so it was really exciting to play with Maverick,” McQuillin said. “Getting third in the state is a big part of this excitement and it was really fun.”
Contact Ashley Bastock at: abastock@theblade.com, 419-345-5214, or on Twitter @AshleyBastock42.
First Published October 21, 2018, 12:06 a.m.