JC wins Patriot invite

MONROEVILLE — Jay County didn’t win a match at the Heritage Invitational last season.
The tide was turned Saturday.
Jay County’s volleyball team went a perfect 3-0 to win the invitational for its second tournament title in as many weekends.
The Patriots (7-1) knocked off Allen County Athletic Conference foe Heritage 25-13, 23-25, 25-21, beat the New Haven Bulldogs 25-9, 25-17 and topped the Canterbury Cavaliers 25-15, 25-18.
“The last two years most of these players were the ones that have been playing,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team went undefeated at the invitational it hosted Aug. 23. “Now the experience is starting to show. They’re believing in themselves, they’re playing well (and) they have the confidence.”
In the opening match against the host Patriots, Jay County trailed 13-3 in the second game after a string of errors. But the visiting Patriots rallied to tie the game at 23 before Heritage was able to nab the win.
“We were able to not just quit and give up, yet we battled and battled,” Medler said. “We got it back to 23-23, had it really close at the end, then they slid away from us.
But Jay County righted the ship in the third game. Heritage kept it close but JCHS took the match by putting pressure on the host team’s offense with its serves.
“I would have loved to win it in two, but it’s nice to know this team has the mental toughness to stay with it,” Medler said.
The Patriots rode the momentum from game three against Heritage into wins in straight sets over the Bulldogs and Cavaliers.
Jay County got out to an 8-0 lead in the first game against New Haven, as Bre McIntire’s serves forced the Bulldogs into committing errors. McIntire, a senior, was a perfect 28-for-28 serving with two aces for the tournament.
After falling behind early again in the second game 11-3, New Haven went on a 12-6 run to get within two, 17-15. Lizzy Schoenlein, who missed the first two weeks of the season with an ankle injury, found an open spot in the Bulldog defense for a point, giving Jay County the serve back. New Haven only scored two more points on a kill and an attack error by the Patriots.
Jay County strung together runs in both games against Canterbury. After the Cavs scored the first two points of the match, the Patriots went on a 12-3 run. A similar run gave the Patriots a 10-2 lead to start game two, and Jay County had at least a five-point advantage for the majority of the match.
Kylie Osborne had 18 kills for the tournament to lead the Patriot offense, which totaled 64 kills in the three matches. Abby Barcus tallied 11 kills to go with her nine digs and four blocks.
Ava Kunkler and Abby Wendel both had 10 kills, joining Osborne and Barcus in double figures. Wendel had a team-high 28 digs and also recorded five aces. McIntire had five kills and 4 1/2 blocks.
Medler was able to use 10 different players during the tournament, which he said will help the non-starters to be able to contribute each time they’re on the court.
“We want them to be ready,” he said. “We want them to be able to do positive things when they’re out there. If we just let them sit on the bench all the time and then someone goes down, they’re not going to be mentally focused.
“We want them to step out there and improve our play.”