Swept in the semifinal

Garrett Rodgers battled to force a third set.

Payton Heniser was just overmatched.

They were two of three Patriots to have their careers come to a close on Wednesday.

The host Jay County High School boys tennis team lost to the Union City Indians 5-0 in the IHSAA boys tennis sectional semifinal.

“Definitely not the point in the season where you want to fall flat, play flat,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller. “I don’t think it was nerves. I don’t think it was pressure. (We) just didn’t play good tennis today. It was a bad day.”

Union City advances to the sectional final at 5 p.m. today against two-time defending sectional champion Winchester, which swept Randolph Southern 5-0 in the other semifinal.

Winchester has won four of the last five sectional titles — Jay County won in 2014 — and Union City is looking for its first championship in 25 years.

“I think on every single court except for maybe one, things just kind of snowballed a little bit,” Miller added. “They started making mistakes. They started making errors and once they started making errors and mistakes they tried harder and harder … It just led to more mistakes and more errors and just bad tennis.”

Rodgers, a senior, dropped the first set of his No. 1 singles match to Trevor Spence 6-2. He never trailed in the second set, beating Spence 6-3 to force a third.

But once there, as Miller noted, one mistake led to another as Rodgers lost the final set 6-0.

“Garrett made a real nice comeback, got that second set,” Miller said. “Went into that third set with a really great attitude. I was pleased with the way he came back to fight and get it to a third set.

“That third set he just could not do anything to stop Trevor from running over him, essentially, in the third set.”

Heniser, the Patriots’ No. 2 singles player, never led Jacob Fulk in losing 6-2, 6-3. Heniser had to work for his points, but the Union City senior seemingly had an answer for every shot.

Fulk had a knack for getting Heniser to chase a shot along one sideline then rip a winner to the other corner.

“Tonight was just not his night,” Miller said. “Just bad shot after bad shot (but) not for lack of effort. Never, ever, would I want to accuse him of not trying his best out there.”

Ethan Myers, one-half of the Patriots’ No. 1 doubles team along with junior Xavier Ninde, had his one-year tennis career end with a loss to Gabe Loesch and Jacob Bradbury 6-1, 6-2. Despite the defeat, it was one of the few positives Miller took away from the match.

“Felt like they played as well as they had all year together,” he said. “Had some really nice shots, played some really nice games, made some of the games long and made (Union City) earn their points, but the (No. 2) doubles team from Union City is a good doubles team.”

Gavin Randall and Sheldon Upp fell at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, 6-2, to Zach Bradbury and John Carpenter, and Conner Benter lost at No. 3 singles to Chase Jefferis 6-2, 6-3.

Miller was most displeased, however, at the manner in which Heniser and Rodgers went out.

“They’ve been great players to have on the team and it’s been an honor to coach them,” he said. “A night like tonight when you watch them play their final tennis match it is kind of sad. And to see it end the way it did tonight is not what we wanted anyways.”