Walter, Patriots fight off Warriors

As an errant pass sailed toward her, Sarah Walter was feeling no pressure.
She didn’t know she was supposed to.
With her team leading 16-15 in the fifth and deciding game, she didn’t realize that if she finished the point the match would be over.
“I didn’t even know that we were going to go to 15,” said Walter, a sophomore. “Honestly, I thought we were going to go to 25. And I was like, ‘What the heck, if I get this out, I’ll get it next time.’”
So she went up in the air with a mindset of trying to slam the ball down as hard as possible.
Her calm with the match on the line paid off.
Walter ripped the errant pass past a block attempt by Woodlan freshman Lauren Durkes, recording the winning kill as the Jay County High School volleyball team fought off the visiting Warriors 25-21, 19-25, 26-24, 25-27, 17-15.
Most games are played to 25, as Walter expected, including the third and deciding game in junior varsity matches. But at the varsity level, the fifth and deciding game is a sprint to 15.
Jay County (7-4, 2-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) rolled out to a 4-0 lead in game five, but the Warriors (5-8, 0-1 ACAC) rallied and eventually pulled even at 14 on a kill by Maddie Fredrick. The teams traded points — a kill by Abby Barcus followed by a service error — to 15 before another Barcus kill gave the Patriots an edge.
Serving for the match, Barcus dropped the ball in short in front of libero Cassidy Weidenhoeft. The senior, who had been spectacular with 33 digs on the night, got to the ball but was unable to control it. Her serve reception sailed over the net, where Walter was waiting to slam it down.
“It was a big one for Sarah, because when we went to this new lineup Tuesday night it took her out of the lineup,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler. “I know she wasn’t happy about it, but that’s the way the ball bounced for a match and a half. …”
But she got an opportunity to step in midway through the match Thursday, and the second of her two kills delivered the victory.
“I’m happy for her that she was able to put the ball away on that last play,” Medler continued. “She’s had a habit of being under the ball and hitting it. … She’s worked the last two nights at staying behind the ball …
“She’s done that the last two nights in practice and in play here tonight.”
The match was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with Jay County closing the first game on a 7-1 run before the Warriors rolled out to a 12-5 lead en route to winning the second. Each of the next three would go to extra points.
The Patriots took game three on a kill by Barcus and a block from Kaelyn Weaver after Woodlan junior Katie Hockemeyer had ripped three consecutive kills to pull her team even. Then it was Hockemeyer in game four who baffled JCHS with her serve, running off seven points in a row. Four of those were aces, and the Patriots got the ball back over the net just once before Hockemeyer, who eventually ripped another of her 19 kills to end the game, finally hit a serve into the net.
The Warriors clawed out of their four-point hole in the fifth game, but were never able to take a lead.
“It always hurts you when you get in a hole right away,” said Woodlan coach DeWayne Stutzman, who got 24 digs and nine aces from Hockemeyer in addition to 26 assists from Addison Bayman. “I mean, you can’t give up (four) points like that real quick. We fought back and we were there.”
While Walter finished off the match, Barcus, her cousin, carried the offensive load throughout the evening. Her hitting percentage — .457 — was more than double the team as the whole as she racked up 24 kills. The senior, who will play at Wright State University next season, also had team highs of 19 digs and five blocks.
Olivia Kunkler followed with 11 kills, and Chloe Trissel and Randi Ferguson came up with 14 digs apiece. Kendal Garringer put up 29 assists, and Britlyn Dues and Weaver had four blocks each.

Junior varsity
The Patriots fought off Woodlan to avoid a third game, completing the sweep for a 25-17, 25-23 victory.
Sara Hemmelgarn and Hanna Dillon each totaled seven kills for Jay County, with Dillon’s final two serving to tie the second game at 23 and then give her team a one-point lead. The Patriots then took the match when Woodlan was unable to return a serve from Macey Weitzel.
Hemmelgarn added two aces and a block while Allison Jobe put up 11 assists and Alayna Aparicio totaled five digs. Sara Walter finished with four digs and two aces.