October 14, 2017 at 7:55 p.m.
Jay's season ends in semifinal
No. 2 Delta proves too powerful for Patriots
Jay's season ends in semifinal
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
MUNCIE — Fred Medler was quick to call timeout when his Patriots fell behind 4-1 in the opening set Saturday.
He knew they didn’t have room for error if they wanted to compete with one of the top teams in the state. And it didn’t take long for Delta to prove that point.
Jay County made progress and pulled even after the timeout, but soon gave up a 14-1 run to the host Eagles — the second-ranked team in Class 3A. A 13-2 run would bury the Patriots, who never led, in the second set as their season came to an end with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-15 loss in the semifinal round of the IHSAA sectional volleyball tournament.
“This is a tough sectional to come and play in. We knew that at the beginning,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team managed runs of three points or more just twice in the match. “Their skill level is to a point and their power is to a point that we couldn’t overcome … They’re just good. They’re No. 2 in the state for a reason.”
Delta went on to lose to No. 1 New Castle in three sets — 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 — in Saturday evening’s championship match to finish its season at 23-8.
The Patriots (19-13) responded to Medler’s initial timeout after a service error had them facing a 4-1 deficit. They scored three straight points — two on Delta errors and the other on a Kailee Denney ace — to pull even. The teams were tied again at five, and then Jay County trailed 7-6 before the set got out of control.
Junior Mayzie Hinkle was the catalyst for the Eagles’ run, repeatedly hitting around and over the Jay County blockers. She ripped off four kills and Emily Bechdolt added two during the stretch in which the only Patriot point came when Delta was called for a double hit.
Hinkle’s 11 kills in the match were second only to Molly Hunt’s 12, and Bechdolt joined her teammates in double figures with 10.
“I thought she was very focused,” said Delta coach Heidi Zickgraf of Hinkle’s tone-setting effort. “Very relaxed. We weren’t too tense. She came out really focused and determined with what she wanted to do today.”
The Patriots’ inability to slow down the Eagles’ attackers was just one of their disadvantages against the perennial powerhouse. The second set brought serve receive struggles as Natalie Zinkle and Bella Dearinger victimized the visitors for four aces in a stretch of six points. They were part of the 13-2 run that also included kills from Hinkle and Bechdolt.
Even when the result wasn’t an ace, the serve-receive struggles made it difficult for Jay County to get into any kind of offensive rhythm.
Service and attack errors — 14 combined — also hurt the Patriots.
“Every little unforced error,” said Medler. “But again, you jump to go hit and there’s two arms that are elbow-high above the net and their not used to seeing that, it’s going to go 10, 15 feet long. It’s going to go wide. Give them credit for creating that. They had their block up and made it tough on our hitters.”
After the three-point run that followed the timeout early in the first set, JCHS didn’t put together another three in a row until match point. They got to within 24-12 before a service error ended their season.
Denney totaled 13 assists and eight digs, both team highs, while Olivia Kunkler added four digs. Kaelyn Weaver totaled five kills and two blocks, and Sarah Walter and Natalie Miles had four kills apiece.
Despite losing some key seniors, including Wright State University freshman Abby Barcus, to graduation, the Patriots managed to improve over their 2016 record of 16-13.
“We knew our young kids were going to have to step up and play,” said Medler. “The last time this kind of similar thing happened where we had lots of seniors … leave, went went 3-for-the-world. So for us to win 19 was a good season.”
All Rights Reserved
MUNCIE — Fred Medler was quick to call timeout when his Patriots fell behind 4-1 in the opening set Saturday.
He knew they didn’t have room for error if they wanted to compete with one of the top teams in the state. And it didn’t take long for Delta to prove that point.
Jay County made progress and pulled even after the timeout, but soon gave up a 14-1 run to the host Eagles — the second-ranked team in Class 3A. A 13-2 run would bury the Patriots, who never led, in the second set as their season came to an end with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-15 loss in the semifinal round of the IHSAA sectional volleyball tournament.
“This is a tough sectional to come and play in. We knew that at the beginning,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team managed runs of three points or more just twice in the match. “Their skill level is to a point and their power is to a point that we couldn’t overcome … They’re just good. They’re No. 2 in the state for a reason.”
Delta went on to lose to No. 1 New Castle in three sets — 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 — in Saturday evening’s championship match to finish its season at 23-8.
The Patriots (19-13) responded to Medler’s initial timeout after a service error had them facing a 4-1 deficit. They scored three straight points — two on Delta errors and the other on a Kailee Denney ace — to pull even. The teams were tied again at five, and then Jay County trailed 7-6 before the set got out of control.
Junior Mayzie Hinkle was the catalyst for the Eagles’ run, repeatedly hitting around and over the Jay County blockers. She ripped off four kills and Emily Bechdolt added two during the stretch in which the only Patriot point came when Delta was called for a double hit.
Hinkle’s 11 kills in the match were second only to Molly Hunt’s 12, and Bechdolt joined her teammates in double figures with 10.
“I thought she was very focused,” said Delta coach Heidi Zickgraf of Hinkle’s tone-setting effort. “Very relaxed. We weren’t too tense. She came out really focused and determined with what she wanted to do today.”
The Patriots’ inability to slow down the Eagles’ attackers was just one of their disadvantages against the perennial powerhouse. The second set brought serve receive struggles as Natalie Zinkle and Bella Dearinger victimized the visitors for four aces in a stretch of six points. They were part of the 13-2 run that also included kills from Hinkle and Bechdolt.
Even when the result wasn’t an ace, the serve-receive struggles made it difficult for Jay County to get into any kind of offensive rhythm.
Service and attack errors — 14 combined — also hurt the Patriots.
“Every little unforced error,” said Medler. “But again, you jump to go hit and there’s two arms that are elbow-high above the net and their not used to seeing that, it’s going to go 10, 15 feet long. It’s going to go wide. Give them credit for creating that. They had their block up and made it tough on our hitters.”
After the three-point run that followed the timeout early in the first set, JCHS didn’t put together another three in a row until match point. They got to within 24-12 before a service error ended their season.
Denney totaled 13 assists and eight digs, both team highs, while Olivia Kunkler added four digs. Kaelyn Weaver totaled five kills and two blocks, and Sarah Walter and Natalie Miles had four kills apiece.
Despite losing some key seniors, including Wright State University freshman Abby Barcus, to graduation, the Patriots managed to improve over their 2016 record of 16-13.
“We knew our young kids were going to have to step up and play,” said Medler. “The last time this kind of similar thing happened where we had lots of seniors … leave, went went 3-for-the-world. So for us to win 19 was a good season.”
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