Jay tops Stars

BERNE — The first 20 points of Monday’s match were hotly contested.
Mariah Hornaday simply refused to allow that pattern to continue.
The Jay County High School senior ran off seven straight service points to spark the Patriots, who went on to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-21 victory over the host South Adams Starfires.
Hornaday had sent her first serve of the match long as SAHS built a 12-9 lead, but then took control the second time around on the way to a match-high 15 points.
“I think partly what settled us down was Mariah went back there. She had missed several serves on Saturday towards the end, and she missed her first serve tonight. When she went back the next time it was like she just took care of business,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, who also got 13 kills, six digs and three aces from Hornaday. “She got a few serves in. South Adams started struggling with their passing a little bit. And from that point on our serve controlled their passing game. That was a big key for us.”
The Starfires, who dropped to 3-4 with the defeat, never recovered in the opening game as Jay County (3-2) finished on a 16-3 run. They fell behind 11-2 in the second and third games on the way to the loss.
“A lot of it tonight was just lack of consistency,” said South Adams coach Ashley Buckingham. “In the locker room most of my challenge was for our hitters. Passing, overall, we were all right tonight. There were moments we could have been better, but really we had more hitting errors than kills from almost every hitter across the board. And when you do that in a varsity contest, you’re going to be in trouble. … We have to clean that up.”
Hornaday got help from freshman Breanne McIntire, who had three kills in the match-changing run. Maria Murphy notched the kill that ended the first game.
In the second game it was again Hornaday, who served the Patriots out to a nine point lead. She had two aces during the run, and got two more kills from McIntire.
South Adams fought back three times, only to be shut down by freshman Malarie Houck on each occasion. After the Starfires closed to within 12-9 Houck had consecutive kills to extend the JCHS lead, she later halted a 3-0 run with another kill and then added an ace to push the Patriots ahead 24-14.
McIntire finished the match with four kills, and Houck had six points, four digs, three kills and two aces.
“The two freshmen have stepped onto the court and just played solid,” said Medler. “Malarie is serving consistently. She’s outside hitting … always ready to make a jump and a swing. And she’s played really, really good defense.
“Bre has stepped in there and made some really good, smart swings. … She places the ball in really good spots.”
Houck, helped by three Hornaday kills, served the Patriots out to their nine-point lead in the third game before Medler went heavily to his bench. South Adams pulled to within 23-21, but gave up possession on a service error before Shannon Springer notched a kill to end the match.
Murphy followed Hornaday with seven kills and also totaled three aces. Hannah Ainsworth delivered 27 assists, Alyssa Rigby came up with nine digs and Jen Dirksen scored six points.
Jay County will face another Adams County foe tonight as it hosts Adams Central at 6 p.m.
“Adams Central is going to be a really hard test for us,” said Medler. “They probably run the fastest offense we have seen. … They’ll be coming at us from all different angles.”
Chelsea Bollenbacher had 10 digs, six kills, four blocks and two aces to lead the Starfires on Monday. Lauren Smith notched six kills.
Despite the defeat, Buckingham said she is optimistic about her team’s possibilities for the season.
“I love this group of girls,” she said. “They have a ton of potential, and they just have to continue to realize their own potential. … A lot of them are young. So I think they’re just figuring out how to mentally overcome some of the … slumps you get into during the season. … I’m expecting good things from them this season.”

Junior varsity
The Starfires rallied in the final game to knock off Jay County 25-18, 10-25, 15-13.
South Adams trailed for much of the final game before pulling even at 11 and then pushing to a 14-11 lead. The Patriots fought back to within one before the Starfires ended the match following a time out.
Ali Inman tallied 10 points, including four aces, and five digs to lead JCHS. Courtney Finnerty had nine points and five assists, and Abbi Dunlavy notched three kills.

Freshman
The Patriots cruised to a 25-14, 25-14 victory over South Adams.
Jessica Kerrigan scored 16 points to lead Jay County in its opening match of the year. Emily Westgerdes had seven points and three digs.
Lucy Hemmelgarn finished with seven kills, and Courtney Finnerty had seven assists.[[In-content Ad]]