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Best friends since third grade weren't good doubles partners for Delta tennis, until this year

MUNCIE, Ind. — Grace Belangee and Lexie Manor have been best friends since they were in the same third grade class. They played volleyball together and eventually joined the cheerleading and tennis teams together at Delta. Both are going to be college cheerleaders, Belangee at Butler and Manor at DePauw.

The seniors, who are 20-4 this season at No. 1 doubles as the Eagles play in the state quarterfinals Friday against Jasper, seem like a natural fit as partners.

But oddly enough, it didn’t start out that way.

They were paired together in their very first match together as freshmen on the junior varsity team as head coach Tim Cleland mixed and matched early in this season to get a feel for his new group.