Teaghan Dishman practices with teammate Kaylin Gibson at Delta Wednesday morning.
MUNCIE – Teaghan Dishman still has the tweet on her phone. It’s from her sophomore year, when her close friend and Delta tennis teammate Kaylin Gibson announced she would be going to state with Dishman during their senior year.
It seemed like a joke at the time. It’s reality now. The pair (23-3) will take on Lawrence North’s Allison Henry and Laine Rumreich (13-6) in the state quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Friday at Park Tudor.
“It’s hysterical now to look back on it,” Gibson said, with Dishman quickly piping in that she also finds it humorous. “Because my mom jokes about it now all the time. She’s like, ‘Can you believe you guys are playing in state?’ It still doesn’t seem real, like we made it finally.”
They have reached this point despite very different paths during their high school careers.
Dishman can’t remember exactly when she began playing tennis. Her older brother Tate started playing, and that interest trickled down to the rest of the family. She was young when she started, estimating she was approximately five or six-years-old.
When Dishman joined the high school team, she was a seasoned player ready to make an immediate impact and jumped right into the varsity lineup. She missed her junior season due to injury, and coach Tim Cleland believes she could have been among the program’s all-time wins leaders had she been healthy all four years.
A decorated athlete who also played volleyball and basketball during her time at Delta, Friday will mark Dishman’s first opportunity to compete at the state level for the Eagles in any of her sports.
“She’s either the best female athlete here or she’s certainly in the running for it,” Cleland said. “So she’s been all-state two years, first-team in volleyball, and she’s going to be all-state here in tennis this year. So whenever you’re all-state in two different sports, and you play a third sport where you’re a four-year starter, you’ve got some athleticism.”
Gibson had a different experience when she came out for the team as a freshman. She had never played, but started after some cajoling from Dishman. She experienced the growing pains one might expect with a brand-new sport.
One memory in particular stands out from very early in her tenure, when Gibson made a mistake on the court, then heard someone laugh. She remembers being in the parking lot later with her father, crying as her emotions took over. Dishman’s mother overheard, and encouraged her to keep going, telling her she would eventually come to love the sport. Dishman later encouraged her to keep going as well.
As Gibson’s freshman year continued, things did get better. She settled into a spot in the junior varsity lineup, and enjoyed the rapid improvement of a beginner still learning the sport. She continued her rise up the JV lineup during her sophomore year. When she tweeted that she would be going to state with Dishman in their senior year, there was still a considerable gap between the two players’ experience levels and positions in the lineup.
Gibson was soon working even harder to close that gap.
During the winter leading up to her junior season, Gibson elected not to swim, giving up a sport she had competed in since she was a child. Instead, she spent her time practicing tennis.
“I wanted to be able to play varsity and play with them,” Gibson said. “So I just gave (swimming) up because I realized that I loved tennis more than I ever thought I would.”
Gibson jumped all the way up to the varsity No. 1 doubles position for her junior year. Dishman missed that season after tearing her ACL during basketball season. So as she dealt with the frustration of missing a year, Dishman watched and saw her friend’s improved play.
As they play together as seniors, Dishman said Gibson has demonstrated significant improvement this season, even compared to her junior year.
“She’s more confident and everything,” Dishman said. “And her strokes look a lot better and her net play is a lot better.”
Gibson said they talked about the possibility of state as they prepared to play together for the first time as seniors. But this time, it was more about goal-setting then making bold predictions. As the season continued, certain wins made the goal seem more realistic.
One such win came against Fort Wayne Carroll’s Taylor Stanchin. Stanchin was a state runner-up in the doubles tournament last season, though she was playing with a new partner this year after the graduation of Makenzie Schoeff. Dishman said Cleland typically tells the duo their opponent is particularly strong before every match, even if it’s not always true. After picking up that win, though, there was a sense Cleland was speaking the truth.
“When we were done, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re good,’ ” Dishman said. “And Tim was like, ‘They were undefeated, they had never lost before.’ “
Cleland acknowledges the importance of that Carroll win, but also points to a victory the duo picked up against Bloomington South team as possibly even bigger. That Panthers doubles team didn’t advance to the individual doubles tournament, though it did help its squad make a deep run in the team tournament. He also mentions a win against Mississinewa, a team that will be also be competing in the state doubles tournament.
Dishman and Gibson remain close friends off the court. The school year has wrapped up, so their recent practices have been during summer break. They’ve spent considerable time together since school let out.
Both say that friendship has been a key part of their success on the court. Their sense of humor allows them to make jokes at each other’s expense, and they’re able to stay loose while playing together on the court.
“If you come out here and watch varsity matches, you’re going to see every court, there’s serious and complete focus,” Gibson said. “And you’re going to look at Teaghan and I’s court, and we’re going to be cracking up and doing stupid stuff. But that’s just how we play better. I can’t sit here and focus point after point after point after point, all worried about tennis. I need to joke around and be goofy and stuff. And I feel like we just get along so much better when we do that.”
Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.
IHSAA State Doubles Tournament
• When: Quarterfinals 2 p.m. Friday, semifinals 10 a.m. Saturday, championship match 2 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Park Tudor
• ECI quarterfinal matchup: Teaghan Dishman/Kaylin Gibson (Delta) vs. Allison Henry/Laine Rumreich (Lawrence North)