JC sweeps past Archers

For stretches, the Patriots looked great. And then there were times when they struggled.
But the Jay County High School volleyball team fought through the difficulties to end a four-match losing streak Tuesday, defeating the visiting Fort Wayne South Side Archers 25-10, 25-23, 25-22.
The win was a big one for the Patriots, who head into a particularly difficult portion of their schedule beginning with a match at home Thursday against Class 2A No. 1 Wapahani (8-0).
“Right after the announcing of the lineups I sat down next to the Sarahs (assistant coaches Sarah Wenk and Sarah Mescher) and I said, ‘We’ve got to get this one tonight,’” said JCHS coach Fred Medler. “For our confidence, we had to get one tonight.”
And his Patriots did.
After dominating the first game, Jay County was able to eke out wins in the second and third in very different styles.
The Patriots (2-7) struggled with their serves in the second game and fell behind 18-13. They still trailed at 21-18, but a Kylie Osborne kill sparked a late comeback.
JCHS rallied to tie the score at 22 to force a time out by the Archers, took the lead on a Bre McIntire ace and closed on a 7-2 run for the victory.
“I think you could tell when we got to 20-15, the girls started to celebrate,” said South Side coach Carlton Mable, whose team dropped to 1-5. “They thought the game was over. We let up a little bit, and then when it got close we got scared again.”
McIntire’s serve was key in the third game as she stepped behind the line and ran off 10 straight points, including four aces, to give the Patriots an 11-0 lead.
“It was huge,” said Medler of the sophomore’s effort with the jump serve. “We were in a game where had we served well, we would have won … game two a lot easier.
“Bre came out in the third game and got a real good run for us.”
Jay County pushed its advantage all the way to 24-15, but needed eight tries to finish off the match. It struggled to keep the ball on the court and out of the net, giving up a 7-0 run before a Katie Aker tip completed the victory.
McIntire racked up 17 service points in the match, including six aces. She also led the Patriots with eight kills, and came up with eight digs.
Hannah Ainsworth, the team’s lone senior, had 16 assists and eight service points. Rachel Ferguson finished with a team-best 12 digs, and Aker notched seven kills.
Medler said he also felt he got a key effort from Malarie Houck after she played sparingly in Saturday’s Heritage Invitational because of an illness.
“Just her playing on that right side steadies her so much,” said Medler. “She’s good with her hands. She’s good moving around the ball. … She’s playing that back side position really smooth. I think that’s going to help just solidify the hitters a little bit because she sets a nice ball. That was good to see.”
South Side got six blocks, five kills and four digs from Lynnia Noel. Myasia Gardner had five kills, and Jessica Hernandez totaled seven digs.
Mable said his team needs to be stronger from the opening whistle rather than constantly trying to dig out of holes.
“Getting the start is the hardest part,” he said. “We usually spot teams 10, 12 points and then decide, ‘You know what, why don’t we make a game of it.’”

Junior varsity
The Patriots moved above .500 at 6-5 as they cruised to a 25-6, 25-8 victory.
Mallory Marshall powered Jay County with 20 points, nine of which came on aces. Cierra Nichols added nine service points, and Michelle Wellman totaled three kills.
Abby Wendel added two kills, Ali Inman had two digs, and Sierra Trobridge and Courtney Finnerty each notched two assists.


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