Bruins top Jay County

The Patriots have lost seven straight matches.

In the last five, they've fallen to a combined score of 23-2.

And the slump included a last-place finish at Saturday's Olympic Athletic Conference meet.

The frustration for the Jay County High School boys tennis team continued Monday with a 4-1 loss the visiting Blackford Bruins, but coach Barry Weaver is hoping his young team can make some positive strides with sectional less than three weeks away.

"We have very little varsity experience," said Weaver, whose team dropped to 2-10. "We've got five kids in there who haven't been there before. ... Going down to 2-10, I'm sure that's frustrating for them. ...

"We're struggling with the between-the-ears thing. ... We've got to fix some things along those lines. We're going to try to change some things and see if we can't figure some things out."

The positive coming out of Monday's match was the first career win for Joe Imel, who dominated Damon Kemp at No. 3 singles.

Imel was in control throughout his match, winning the opening three games of the first set. He jumped out to a 30-love lead in the seventh game and finished off the set when Kemp whacked a shot into the net.

In the second set Imel rolled to a 5-0 lead before Kemp finally held his serve. But Imel, who has been rotating in the No. 3 spot with Tylor Smith, was undeterred as he served out the match for a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

"Joe played a nice match," said Weaver. "He was good and consistent. We're not going to overpower anybody ... but at the same time if we can do what we know how to do, what we practice on every day, then I think we can play in most matches."

Both of Jay County's doubles teams struggled on the evening, especially in their second sets.

At No. 2, Seth Ainsworth and Austin Cowan trailed just 4-3 in the first set. They went on to lose eight of the next nine games in a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Trevor Schambers and Ethan Harriett of the Bruins (6-6).

Chance Fuller and Jordan McBride dropped the final four games of each set as they suffered a No. 1 doubles defeat to Aric Durm and Blake Musselman.

Brad Leuthold improved his play in the second half of his No. 2 singles match with Evan Baughey, but could not quite keep up. He dropped to a 6-1, 6-3 defeat when Baughey finished the match with a perfect winner down the left side.

Jared Valentine won just three games, but battled Austin Ford of Blackford for every point. The No. 1 singles scoreboard still read just 2-1 in Ford's favor while every other varsity match was already in the second set.

But Ford proved too strong, pushing to a 5-1 second set lead with an ace and ending the match when a Valentine volley landed in the net.

"Jared's the kind of young man that is going to keep giving it what he's got," said Weaver. "He is trying to get the things done that he knows he's capable of doing. He played an outstanding match against Highland on Saturday."

Weaver said it'll be important for his team, which hosts Adams Central today at visits Winchester Thursday, to make strides as the sectional approaches. He also indicated he might mix up his lineup in an effort to get things going.

"They're definitely getting better. They're hitting the ball better. They're getting their serves in," he said. "It's just a matter of time. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins here late in the season."[[In-content Ad]]