Giants oust JCHS

MARION - Facing an undefeated team on its home court with a trip to the sectional championship on the line did not bode well for the Patriots.

The Marion Giants dominated Friday's singles matches, handing the Jay County High School girls tennis team a 5-0 loss in the semifinal round of the sectional tournament.

The Mississinewa Indians defeated Madison-Grant 5-0 in Friday's other sectional semifinal. They will meet Marion in today's sectional title match at 10 a.m.

"I thought we were going to do better, but they picked it up pretty well and played solid," said JCHS coach Roy Adams, whose team lost 5-0 to Marion in their regular-season meeting. "They definitely were aggressive."

The Giants (15-0) set the tone for the match in singles action, where they lost just a one game.

Hannah McAbee won that lone game at No. 2 singles. After dropping the first set, she took the opening game of the second.

But McAbee lost the next six games, hitting a shot into the net in a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Tamara Barrett.

Mariah Clark was unable to ward off Veronica Sandoval at No. 3 singles, falling to a 6-0, 6-0 shutout.

Both matches were closer the first time around as McAbee took two games from Barrett during the regular season, and Clark won three against Sandovall.

The story was much the same for Patriot No. 1 singles player Kayla Martin, who played a strong second set the first time around but struggled against Kristin Futrell in the rematch.

Futrell used a power serve to control the match, and finished the first set with a winner down the right side.

The second set was a mirror image, with Futrell taking a 5-0 lead. The sixth game, on Martin's serve, was deadlocked at 30-30 before Futrell hit a cross-court winner and another winner down the right line to finish a 6-0, 6-0 win.

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"Last time she played Kristen she won four games in the second set," said Adams of Martin, noting that Futrell reached the state quarterfinals last season. "Kristen was all business tonight.

"We had a strategy to try to get her off track. It didn't work."

The closest match for Jay County came at No. 2 doubles, where Emily Huntsman and Becky Muhlenkamp put up a strong fight against Marion seniors Morgan Schoer and Malou Frete.

The Giants and Patriots traded games throughout the first set, with Frete and Schoer pushing to a 5-4 lead. Huntsman had a chance to serve the set back to a tie score, but Marion took each of the first three points in the game.

Muhlenkamp and Huntsman got back to within 40-30, but dropped the set when Frete smacked a winner down the left side.

Jay County's duo fell behind 4-0 in the second game before winning three of the next four to put some pressure on the Giants. However, Schoer was able to serve out the match, which ended at 6-4, 6-3 when a Huntsman shot landed wide left.

"The thing about it is, if you get into that second set and get in a hole it's hard to come back," said Adams. "We got down 3-0 and we had to turn around and break them and then hold serve. That can be tough to do."

Patriot seniors Briann Saxman and Megan Huntsman took two of the first five games at No. 1 doubles against Alex Lester and Alex Davis before the Marion pair took over. Davis and Lester ran off nine straight games, breaking Huntsman's serve at love to end the first set and Saxman's at love to end the match.

"I think Marion picked it up in the second set," said Adams. "They got in a groove.

"The reality of the situation is they had two solid hitters. We just couldn't match up."

Jay County finished at 5-10, posting the same win total as last season.[[In-content Ad]]