Jay loses close one to Squaws

Two matches into the season, Dave Cramer is pleased with what he’s seen so far.

The results haven’t quite been what he’s wanted, but his team is trending in the right direction.

Friday night, the Patriots nearly came out on top.

Jay County High School girls tennis team nearly beat the visiting Bellmont Squaws, but came out on the losing end of a 3-2 margin in its second home match in as many nights.

“I am very happy with them,” said Cramer, Jay County’s coach. The Patriots were shut out Thursday against Allen County Athletic Conference rival Bluffton, but had three matches go three sets.

Against the Squaws, three matches again went the distance, only this time the Patriots (0-2) were victorious in one of them.

 “These teams usually beat us anyway and we’re starting to compete with those teams,” Cramer added.

Katy Hamilton, a senior in the Patriots’ No. 3 singles spot, dropped the first set to Janae Butler 6-2. Hamilton lost the first game of the second set and took a bit to get over the hump. Butler kept her one-game advantage through the seventh, but Hamilton won three straight to claim the set.

Hamilton once again fell behind in the decisive third set, but like she did in the second one she prevailed over Butler.

“Katy fought like crazy,” Cramer said. “She had a tough three-setter.”

Jay County’s other win came from junior Klarisa Hemmelgarn at No. 2 singles, though she didn’t need three sets.

Hemmelgarn trailed 1-0 in the opening set — all five varsity matches began in the same fashion — and was behind 2-1. She only lost one of the next six games to take the first set from Cassity Lincoln.

She never trailed in the second set, and was the first victory of the night for the Patriots.

“Klarisa is amazing,” Cramer said, noting she doesn’t try to do anything too special with her shots but just return a playable ball and force her opponent into making mistakes. “She is just a backboard. She plays really, really well. She is very smart.”

Bellmont got wins at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, with the match riding on the top doubles teams.

Jay County cousins Audrey Dirksen and Kayla Dirksen won the first set 7-5, and struggled in the second as they were behind 5-0 to Mackenzie Hackman and Kelsey Dehrman. The Dirksens claimed three straight games to get as close as two, but eventually lost 6-3.

One game away from elimination, the Dirksens won the 12th game of the third set to force a tiebreaker. They appeared to have the advantage taking the first two points in a race to seven, but unforced errors helped the Squaw tandem win seven straight points to clinch a victory for the Bellmont team after nearly three hours of play.

“They really fought hard,” Cramer said.

Jay County’s No. 2 doubles team of Emily Reier and Betsy Muhlenkamp got swept in their first set against Juliana Hammond and Rylie Houser. The Jay County seniors had their backs against the wall in set two as they were behind 4-1, but roared back to force a tiebreaker and win it by a 7-2 margin.

They weren’t able to repeat the feat in the third set and they lost 6-0, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.

“I’m really happy for them because they responded,” Cramer said. “They played real hard.”

Shelby McClain wasn’t able to get much momentum going in her No. 1 singles match and lost to Carrington Bultemeier 6-0, 6-0.