JCHS earns 10th win

The journey over their four years has not always been easy. But the Patriot seniors are reaping the rewards of their career-long efforts this season.

Every senior Jay County High School varsity girls tennis player walked away with a victory Tuesday as the team defeated the Madison-Grant Argylls 4-1.

The win improved the Patriots to 10-6 on the year, giving them their most wins since going 10-3 in 1986 and putting them just two short of the school record set in 1978 and '79. It marks just the fourth time in school history that the team has posted double-digit victories.

"It's awesome. This is a great group," said JCHS coach Roy Adams, whose team closes the regular season at Alexandria Tuesday before heading to the Marion sectional. "There are some special girls in this group. They've worked hard. You can't ask for a whole lot more than what I've gotten out of these girls this year."

The Patriots got a quick win from Kayla Martin at No. 2 singles as she finished off her match before several of the others had even completed a set.

The senior rolled through the first set with a 6-1 victory over Gail Runyon before dropping the first game of the second. She quickly bounced back, taking six of the next seven games and serving out her 6-1, 6-2 victory at love.

"Kayla was just really on," said Adams. "Madison-Grant's No. 2 just couldn't keep up with her. Her consistency just wasn't at Kayla's level. ... I was very pleased with her play."

Becky Muhlenkamp and Emily Huntsman, both seniors, capped the victory for the Patriots with their roller-coaster victory at No. 1 doubles.

The duo broke Madison-Grant's serve to take the first set 6-3, but quickly dropped the first three games of the second to Holly Jarvis and Kristin Mercker. Plagued by some unforced errors, Muhlenkamp and Huntsman dropped the second set 6-1.

But they bounced back in the third, taking four of the first five games and pushing the lead to 5-2. Jarvis and Mercker tried to rally, pulling to within 5-4, but Huntsman served out the match with the winning point coming on a Muhlenkamp volley.

"We had to work and figure out what we were doing with these guys," Adams said of the 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win. "They wanted us to play a deep game, and we had to be aggressive. ... And that's what we struggled with today. ...

"When we got into problems, it was because we were playing their game.

"There at the end ... we hit some shots in there that they had to volley and hit caused some miss-hits."

Mariah Clark earned the other Jay County victory in the senior sweep, as she was able to fight off Angel Lynn Robinson.

Clark played mistake-free early in taking a 3-0 lead, but then struggled in dropping four straight games. However, she was able to rebound and serve out the first set at love.

She dropped the first game of the second set before winning five of the next six to take control en route to winning 6-4, 6-3.

"Mariah put pressure on (Robinson) with good strokes," said Adams. "She definitely caused more unforced errors. I think that's key. You've got to be consistent, and at No. 1, to win, you've really got to take control of points."

Ashley Caupp and Danielle Chenoweth triumphed in a tight match at No. 2 doubles, coming up big to win a first-set tiebreaker. After trailing 2-1 early in the second set, they reclaimed the lead and Chenoweth ended the match with a winner down the left side.

Finishing off the victory in two sets was key for the duo, which had struggled to close out wins during the early part of the season.

"We had some real struggles ... during the season where we won that first set and then we just kind of fell apart. ... Now they're starting to believe," Adams said. "I think it's that experience they've got underneath their belts. ... Coming into that second set I think they really picked it up ... and we were able to close it out."

The lone loss of the evening for Jay County came at No. 3 singles, where Alyssa Rigby fell 6-0, 6-1 to Alli Poore.

Junior varsity

Jay County gave up just two games at each of the top three singles spots on the way to a 6-4 victory over the Argylls.

Brittany White led the Patriots (8-5) with her 4-2, 4-0 victory at No. 1 singles over Ashley Lagle. Joni Degler and Rachel Ray won by matching scores of 4-0, 4-2 at No. 2 and 3 singles respectively.

Avery Loyd added a fourth singles victory for JCHS at the No. 5 spot. Doubles victories came from the teams of Alicia Degler and Dezi Clay, and Kyla McKibben and Melinda Penrod.[[In-content Ad]]