Patriots stave off defeat

It’s about growth.
The Patriots found themselves trailing late in game two. They rallied, but didn’t come all the way back.
Facing the same situation in the third game, coach Fred Medler wanted see how his group would respond.
Jay County closed on a five-point run to end that game and then pulled away late in the fourth to fight off the Winchester Golden Falcons 25-15, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17.
“We’re working on that consistency, that toughness, that mental focus with our back against the wall, and can we push and get through it,” said Medler, whose team improved to 4-2 with its fourth consecutive win after opening the year with consecutive losses to Class 2A No. 4 Madison-Grant and Class 3A No. 3 Delta. “I was pleased with the way we battled. I was pleased with the way we battled in game two. We lost it. I was more pleased in game three when we won it.”
The Patriots seemed headed to a defeat in game three after committing a service error that started a Winchester run. The Golden Falcons (1-6) took advantage by tallying seven straight points, including two on aces by Shalyn Homan and two more on JCHS setting and attack errors.
The home team clawed back from a five-point deficit to 22-21, but two more errors — one from the service line and one on the attack — put Winchester on the verge of victory.
Then Olivia Kunkler came up big.
With the game, as well as the match momentum, on the line, the sophomore middle hitter ripped a kill down the center of a court. She denied Keener with a block on the next point, and then slammed home another kill to even the score at 24 apiece.
“And she had missed some swings early,” said Medler. “In game two, she missed and got tentative with the way she was swinging. …
“She went back out there and she made some good passes in game four also, which is not an easy thing for a young, inexperienced pass receiver to do. She came up big in game three and game four.”
The Golden Falcons took a timeout to try to slow the Patriots down, but failed to return the ensuing serve from Britlyn Dues. And a Shelby Miller attack on the next point went long to give JCHS the 26-24 victory.
“We’re just trying to teach the girls to think through the game of volleyball and fight for every single point,” said Medler. “I could bark at them and yell at them and scream at them … but once in a while they’ve just got to get in a match, and occasionally lose a game …
“I would have hated to lose game three, there’s no question about that, because that puts them in the driver’s seat. But this is a young season for us and in order for us to be good and tough mentally, these kids have got to figure that out.”
Game four stayed close early as the teams were tied at 12, but another five-point run put the Patriots in control. They finished off the match when Dues saw a hole in the defense and tipped the ball over for the final point.
While Kunkler tallied the key kills in game three, Kaelyn Weaver and Abby Barcus carried the offense Tuesday with 14 kills apiece while Dues followed with nine. Kailee Denney put up 24 assists, Chloe Trissel had 10 digs and Kendal Garringer recorded four aces.
The match was also about improvement for the Golden Falcons, who got 14 kills from Miller, 13 digs from Mykah Keener and 10 assists from Leah Wren.
“We’ve struggled and struggled with just standing with our feet in the cement,” said Winchester coach Erin Lewis. “Finally we’re getting to where we’re driving through that ball and we’re ready to play. …
“On the scoreboard it wasn’t a win, but this was a team win for us tonight. With the momentum and the communication, we did some good things.”

Junior varsity
Jay County rolled to a 25-14, 25-13 victory over the Golden Falcons behind a balanced attack.
Sarah Hemmelgarn and Hanna Dillon each recorded four kills, and Calli Stigleman followed with three. Emma James totaled seven assists and three digs, and Alayna Aparicio was perfect from the service line as she recorded four aces as part of a six-point effort.