Jay powers by Jets

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Kaelyn Weaver’s attacking ability helped her team grab the first nine points of the night.

She continued to dominate the rest of the match, but her supporting cast put the Jets away.

Weaver had another solid offensive performance and three of her teammates were also forces at the net Tuesday as the Jay County High School volleyball team swept the visiting Adams Central Flying Jets, 25-12, 25-11, 25-22.

“Big win,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler. “They got us last year in four up at their place. This is one we had in the loss column but we got it this year.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, right now, grab some back out of the loss column that we lost last year.”

Much like she has been all season, Weaver was again the focal point of the Patriots’ offense.

She had kills on the first three points of the game, and following three consecutive Adams Central errors she smacked three more kills as Jay County (9-7, 3-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) had a 9-0 lead before the Jets (8-5, 1-1 ACAC) knew what happened.

“One of the things we learned (in the Noblesville Invitational) on Saturday … we can be good,” said Medler, whose squad finished fourth out of a dozen teams in the aforementioned tournament. “We played hard and we played competitive. The stretch of having to play four (matches) made us grow up. Then we come here tonight, we’re not going to sit down this game.

“The passers knew that if they put the ball to (setter Kailee) Denney then she’s probably going to go to the big dog and that got us off to a great start. That run is what got us to the point where we were in command of the match. It made us believe.”

Weaver finished with 19 kills, and Denney totaled 40 assists.

In the second and third sets, it was Weaver’s younger teammates who shouldered the load. Trailing 4-3, Alana Kunkler notched a kill that kickstarted another nine-point swing for Jay County. The freshman had two more kills during the run, junior Sarah Walter recorded a pair of aces and freshman Natalie Miles had a block and a kill.

Kunkler was second on the team with nine kills, while her sophomore sister Olivia was third with eight. They both had four blocks, but Miles out-shined them both with six stops defensively.

“We controlled the net,” Medler said. “We have size. That is one thing we do have.”

Jay County built a 17-12 advantage in the third set, and in typical Medler fashion, he started substituting for his starters. That allowed Adams Central to score six straight points, including three consecutive Kyndal Roe aces. The set was tied at 18, 19, 20 and 21 before Denney caught the Jets off guard with a quick set for a point.

It put Jay County out front 22-21 and forced an Adams Central timeout.

“Those kids that we have coming in … got to know they can help us whenever they step on the court,” Medler said. “They just have to learn to play with confidence when they do.

“I think they did that tonight. We got to a little bit of a place where we needed a break from the other team so we did a quick sub back. They were getting close to closing it out on us if we weren’t careful.”

Hallie Fields and Weaver combined for a block out of the break, and after the teams traded points Weaver ended the match with a strong kill.

“We just dominated them with our size, with our serving, with our aggressive play of getting where we were supposed to be,” Medler said. “I was pleased.”



Junior varsity

Jay County dropped the first set and held off a pesky Adams Central squad for a 22-25, 25-22, 16-14 win.

Hallie Fields had 18 kills in leading the Patriots. Sara Hemmelgarn was second on the team with eight kills in addition to her team high in service points (12), digs (11) and aces (four). Emma James contributed 10 digs and led the team with 25 assists.