Winchester edges Patriots

The Patriots aren’t the defending champions. And they can’t claim to be sectional favorites.
But now they know they are contenders for the title.
Despite No. 1 singles player Zach Pryor being scratched from the lineup at the last minute because of a back injury, the Jay County High School boys tennis team put up a strong fight Thursday against the visiting Winchester Golden Falcons in a 3-2 defeat.
“It gave us a chance to see how we matched up with them,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller. “We were really hoping to have all of our pieces in place and see where things fell out. Without Zach being able to play, we have no idea what No. 1 singles will bring when we play that match. But we do know our No. 2 and 3 singles can play right with them. … If we play these guys again in sectionals, hopefully we can be on the winning side of it.”
The Patriots (1-7) lost twice to Winchester last year, 3-2 during the regular season and 5-0 in the sectional championship. The Golden Falcons also won the 2012 sectional title, while Jay County’s last championship came in 2007.
“It’s going to be close,” said Winchester coach Dennis Streeter of a potential sectional rematch. “It’s going to be real close.
“It’s going to be right down to the three singles matches again. The doubles, they are definitely dominant over us …”
Like the regular-season meeting last year, Jay County’s strength was in the doubles matches.
Jay Houck and Adam Jutte won their first five games over Mason Melton and Austin Bogue as they cruised through the first set. They traded games back-and-forth to a 3-2 lead in the second set before using their length at the net to take control again as they won 6-1, 6-2.
Garrett Rodgers and Sok Vormohr also dominated in the opening set against Hagan Lawson and Levi Baldridge, and then built a 5-1 lead in the second. A Vormohr volley gave the Patriot pair its first match-point opportunity, and a Winchester shot flew wide right on the next point for a 6-1, 6-1 final.
“I thought our No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles played really, really well,” said Miller. “I was really happy with the way they played. They started confidently at the beginning of the match. They played confidently through the entire match.
“And they believed from the start that they were going to win those matches tonight. They did a really good job.”
Miller was also happy with the effort from the rest of his starting lineup, but the singles players weren’t able to gain the same success on the scoreboard.
Alex Krieg traded games with Aaron Wallace at No. 2 singles, trailing 5-4 in the opening set. However, he couldn’t pull even again as Wallace grabbed the advantage.
The second set played out similarly until Wallace won three straight games to finish off his 6-4, 6-3 victory.
At No. 3 singles, Alex Clark also kept it close, pulling to within 5-4 in the second set on an Arick Miller double fault. But Miller rebounded to break Clark’s serve in the next game and earn a 6-4, 6-4 win.
“They were hard-fought matches, close matches, back and forth,” said Miller. “Both of them had the lead at different times. And at the end, things just didn’t work out. But I feel we can play with these guys.”
The Patriots had hoped Pryor, who was suffering from a sore back, would be able to play after he made it through warm-ups. But his back tightened during lineup introductions, and he was pulled from competition in hopes of having him healthy for the sectional tournament in two weeks.
Payton Heniser dropped the first four games of his first varsity match, but eventually found his footing. He took two games late in the first set and another in the second in a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Wes Martin.
“I couldn’t have been more impressed with the way he played and the attitude he went out there with tonight being stuck in that position,” said Miller. “It’s a tough position for a freshman whose never played varsity before, but he did an outstanding job. I’m just really pleased with his effort tonight.”