Patriots top SA

Communication was the key.
Jay County’s improved as the match went on. Both teams are still looking to get better.
The Patriots’ overcame a game-one collapse to win the next three, picking up a 25-27, 25-22, 25-10, 25-12 victory Monday over the visiting South Adams Starfires.
“After playing well, I thought, on Saturday and progressing as the day went on, the last thing we said as we left the huddle on Saturday was ‘Let’s don’t take a step … backward,’” said JCHS coach Fred Medler. “That’s what happens. It usually does.
“We went out and we were real stationary in game one. … And South Adams took advantage of it. …
“So we had to regroup and try to rebuild. … At least we were able to fight and battle back …
“At the end, we were playing better. … We were at least controlling the game.”
Jay County (2-4) looked to be in control early as it went up 5-2 in the first game, led most of the way and pushed to a 24-20 advantage. But the Starfires (1-6) fought back with two key kills from Cady Farlow and put together a 7-1 run to steal the game.
“We need to talk a lot more,” said Hannah Ainsworth, Jay County’s lone senior. “We just weren’t talking at all.
“Once our passing is down, we’re all down. We just need to regroup better. … We started getting a little better in the third and fourth (games). We started talking a little more.”
The Patriots were again in danger of letting a lead escape in the second game, as SAHS closed from a five-point deficit to pull within 24-22. But a Malarie Houck kill evened the match at one game apiece, and Jay County was in command the rest of the way.
JCHS gave up the first point in each of the final two games, but then grabbed leads of 11-3 in the third game and 19-8 in the fourth. The Starfires couldn’t mount any more comebacks, with Bre McIntire recording a kill to close out the third game and Rachel Ferguson finishing off the match with an ace.
“We’re working on our communication,” said South Adams coach Amie Sprunger, whose team’s lone win this year came against Western. “When we’re down we’ve got to get ourselves back up.
“We’ve got all around pretty good hitters, but we’ve got to start with the pass. And our passing struggled after that first game.”
Ainsworth made sure her team would not allow its lead to slip away in the third game. She switched to her jump serve after committing service errors in each of the first two games, and racked up five aces during an 8-0 run late in the third.
Ferguson had two aces in the fourth, and Katie Aker added another.
“When we got game two, the pressure was off a little bit so they were able to relax a little,” said Medler. “Our serving got better. Although we did miss a few serves, our serving got more aggressive and that made their pass not quite as good. So they weren’t getting some of the swings they got early. Our block started timing it better and was doing a good job of slowing down … the shots they were getting. All of that allowed us to control the tempo.”
Alyssa Bluhm finished with 17 assists and six kills for South Adams. Cady Farlow finished with 13 assists, nine digs and eight kills.
Hannah Mitchell, one of just two seniors on the roster, had 10 digs.

Junior varsity
Jay County jumped above .500 as it knocked off the Starfires, 25-14, 25-15.
The Patriots (3-2) were in control throughout the first game before falling behind 5-1 in the second. But they quickly erased their deficit and closed out the win when Kylie Grabau of South Adams knocked the ball into the net.
Ali Inman powered JCHS with 13 service points, including five aces, and five digs. Courtney Finnerty had six assists, six service points and two kills, and Lucy Hemmelgarn finished with six kills.
South Adams got five blocks from Keysha LeMaster. Mackenzie Jennings had four assists, and Kylea Pierce added three kills.[[In-content Ad]]