Patriot tennis sweeps Bruins

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Entering the match, the Patriots had two wins on the season.

One of them was against the Bruins, but on a neutral court.

With a chance to meet the Bruins again — this time at home — the Patriots made quick work of their western neighbors.

The Jay County High School boys tennis team only dropped a total of eight games Monday in sweeping the Blackford Bruins, 5-0.

“The thing I like the most about it is when you go into a match like that with expectations you hope there’s no letdown,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller, whose team swept the Bruins on Aug. 26 in the Muncie Central Invitational. “(You hope) that they’re going got come out and they’re going to play. That they’re going to bring their best, they’re going to play their best (and) they’re going to play to their potential.

“They did that tonight. They did a really good job.”

At No. 3 singles, Jay County junior Conner Benter cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Austen Collett in a match that lasted less than an hour.

Benter was in control from start to finish as the more experienced player, forcing Collett into playing defensively. In turn, Benter was able to execute his game plan into a quick victory.

“Played beautifully tonight,” Miller said. “His game was very controlled. He knew what he wanted to do. He stuck to his game. He didn’t play to his opponent’s game tonight and that was really big for him.”

In fact, all three singles players for Jay County (3-6) had the wire-to-wire advantage.

Payton Heniser, the Patriots’ No. 2 singles player, overpowered Dylan Funkhouser with his serve, often leaving the Bruin out of place in trying to receive it. 

Heniser won, 6-0, 6-1.

“Payton played beautifully tonight as well,” Miller said. “He knew the task at hand was for him to stay focused, for him to stay within himself, for him to continue to hit smart shots (and) try not to do too much.”

And the top JCHS singles player, Garrett Rodgers, also made easy work of his opponent, Straton Stone. It was far cry from when they met more than two weeks ago.

Rodgers set the tone early, using his top spin to keep Stone away from the net, and it helped the JCHS senior take the first set 6-1. A slower, more methodical player than Heniser and Benter, Rodgers worked to wear Straton down in the second set, winning it by a 6-1 score as well.

“When he played Straton in the Muncie Invitational, he gave him trouble,” Miller said. Rodgers won that match 6-4, 6-1. “Garrett struggled a little bit trying to get his feet underneath him and to figure out how to move him on the court and how to do the things Garrett wanted to do.”

This time around, Rodgers had an easier time with the top Bruins player.

“What I am really pleased to see is Garrett clearly has improved in that area this year, going from then to now,” Miller added. “He never let that get out of hand tonight. He controlled every point from the get-go and controlled that match from start to finish.”

Sheldon Upp and Gavin Randall, Jay County’s No. 2 doubles team, overmatched Myles Cline and Gave Koenemann for a 6-0, 6-1 win. As the match started, they were determined to make quick work of the Bruins. They too won the first 11 games of the match and were on the verge of a sweep, but a handful of unforced errors gave Cline and Koenemann the 12th game. Upp and Randall were able to rebound in the next game for the match victory.

Jay County’s No. 1 doubles team of Xavier Ninde and Ethan Myers defeated Jerrett Barker and Kyle Price 6-2, 6-2, but not without some criticism from their coach.

“I don’t think they played well,” he said, noting at times they appeared to play lethargically and take points off here and there. They were ahead 5-0 in the opening set and let Barker and Price nab the next two games before putting the set away.

In set two, Ninde and Myers were ahead 2-1 then 3-2 before winning the final three games.

“I want them to enjoy themselves, I want them to have fun, I want them to smile, but I also want them to take it seriously and not lose focus on what they’re trying to do,” he said.