A Patriot comeback

FORT RECOVERY — Most of the Tribe squad went hustling beyond the service line to track down the ball and send it back across the net, only to have Lizzy Schoenlein drop in a short tip to end the point.
And when an Abby Barcus block skittered across the net and landed just inside the left sideline, the Patriots were in control.
Those back-to-back points capped a 7-0 run to open the fifth game, and the Patriots held off the Fort Recovery Indians to complete a 25-15, 15-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11 victory Tuesday.
“That was great,” said Jay County sophomore setter Lizzy Schoenlein, who scored the final point of the match on another tip. “It was really exciting to come out with a win. We were all really nervous after we lost the second and third games, but we came back and it was very exciting.”
It marked the second straight meeting in which the state-line rivals went the distance, as Fort Recovery fought off the Patriots 25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13 last year.
“It’s a lot of fun to play these guys,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler. “They’re a great team, great athletes. It was in five last year. … So we didn’t expect a whole lot less than that. …
“I’ve just got to credit our kids for wanting to win, because we could have lost in four easy.”
But Jay County (8-1) eked out a game-four victory, and then scored the first three points of the deciding game before the Tribe took a timeout. It was to no avail, as the Patriots added consecutive kills from Barcus and Kylie Osborne.
On the next point Fort Recovery showed tremendous hustle to track down the ball beyond the service line, but Schoenlein’s well-placed tip negated that effort. And the Barcus block of Tori Lennartz that followed had the Patriots soaring.
The Indians (5-3) rallied back to pull within two at 10-8, but couldn’t get any closer.
“That was a pretty good team,” said FRHS coach Chelsea Rogers, noting that she was happy with her team’s defense despite the loss. “I think that’s the best we’ve played.
“If we can keep that defense going and just fine tune some other things, I think that’s going to prepare us for the (Midwest Athletic Conference). … That match I would think is going to make us a better team.”
The teams traded the opening two games, with Jay County taking the first 25-15 and the Indians nabbing the second by the same score. FRHS pushed ahead by scoring the final four points of the third game — the winner came on a Morgan Lennartz block of Ava Kunkler — and had the advantage late in game four.
The Patriots were just four points away from defeat as they trailed 21-19 following a Rachel Pugh ace off the arms of Osborne. But Abby Wendel came up with a kill on the next point, and a block from Emily Westgerdes and kill from Bre McIntire put Jay County back on top.
The Indians (5-3) called a timeout to regroup, and the teams traded points to a 23-23 tie. But then Osborne, who had struggled to keep the ball on the court earlier in the match, came up big.
The junior sent a tip to the right sideline to give her team the lead, and then ended the game with a block of Kirsten Jutte.
Osborne finished the match with 10 kills, second only on the Patriot squad to Barcus’ team-high 22. Barcus also shared the team-best total of 14 digs with Wendel, and added 2.5 blocks.
“Barcus was on fire the whole match,” said Schoenlein. “She was hitting them everywhere.
“She’s really smart. She knows where to place all the balls. She’s just quick. She can get to any ball, anywhere.”
Bre McIntire finished a perfect 27-of-27 serving with four aces, and had key service runs in the first and last games. Schoenlein put up 43 assists.
Tori Lennartz led the Indians with 15 kills, while Cassidy Rammel and Kendra Siefring each notched nine. Jutte totaled 20 assists and 16 digs, and Morgan Lennartz had eight blocks.

Junior varsity
Carley Stone powered Fort Recovery as it swept the Patriots 25-12, 25-14.
Stone had a team-high nine digs to pace the Indians’ defense. She also paced the Tribe with four kills, and added two blocks.
Jill Roessner put up 13 assists, and Alexis Bubp totaled three digs, three assists and three aces.
Britlyn Dues finished with five kills, three digs and three service points for Jay County. Alli Campbell notched 12 assists, and Abby Muhlenkamp had four digs.