Tears of joy flowed from the eyes of Sierra Nellseen as she walked off the tennis court Thursday afternoon at Centerville High School.

A Tippecanoe senior, Nellessen had won the key Division II distric tennis match that qualified her for the state tournament that starts Friday in Columbus. She was greeted with hugs from family, friends and teammates as the realized what she had accomplished.
"It's the best feeling in the world," she said. "I've trained so hard, worked all summer long for this. I'm really excited.
Nellessen used her strong ground game to post a 7-6, 6-1 win over Waverly Wituski of Alter in the second district match of the day. In the first-round morning match, she cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Meredith Hennessy of Wyoming High School.
Early in her match with power hitter Wituski, Nellessen had trouble with the Alter juninor's strong backhand crosscourt strokes.
"So then I started hitting the ball up the middle to take away the angles," Nellessen said.
In a first set battle of wills, the undefeated Nellessen stood her ground as the players battled to a 6-6 first set score, setting up the 7-point tiebreaker to decide the set.
Returning virtually every ball hit her way; Nellessen grabbed a 4-2 lead and eventually won the first set with a 7-4 score.
She dominated Wituski in the second set, bolting to a 4-1 lead and winning the match 6-1 for a straight set victory.
Note: The four Division II district qualifers returned to Centerville High School on Saturday to play for state seeding matches.
Nellessen lost her first match of year to Wyoming's Haley Thoresen, who posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory. A determined Nellessen returned later in the day and captured a 6-4, 6-3 win in a consolation match, earning a number three seed at state.
The Red Devils were not as fortunate in doubles play. The third-seeded team of Taylor Sutton and Katie Stenger and the fourth-seede team of Nefili Superinger and Nadia Mahan lost in first-round matches Thursday.