August 18, 2018 at 8:31 p.m.
Jay spikers roll to title
Jay spikers roll to title
Copyright 2018, The Commercial Review
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The Patriots weren’t able to win their invitational a year ago, snapping a streak of four straight titles in the early-season tournament.
They were rarely challenged Saturday.
A season after falling in the final match of the day, the host Jay County High School volleyball team steamrolled its way to win the Patriot Invitational.
“Actually we played fairly well throughout the day,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team beat the Northeastern Knights (25-13, 25-22), Anderson Indians (25-11, 25-5) and Marion Giants (25-11, 25-11) to win its fifth title in the last six years. “We struggle right now with consistency as far as playing a full game that’s where I want us to play. Up until today. Today I thought we played every game pretty solid all the way through.”
JCHS senior Maggie Pryor, who excelled from the service line by sharing the team high of eight aces with classmate Kailee Denney, was proud of the way her team was able to bounce back from the runner-up finish a year ago.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “Winning this tournament always gives us confidence that we’ll have a great season. This year’s team works well together and brings a lot of energy to the court.”
The strong start began for Jay County (6-3) as it opened play against Northwestern with eight consecutive points. Denney nailed three aces in a row to force a Knight timeout with the Patriots on top 6-0.
Northwestern got within five, 9-4, before a Sara Hemmelgarn kill kick-started a stretch of six straight points. Alana Kunkler also had a kill in the run, and an ace helped the Patriots make it 15-4.
The closest the Knights got the rest of the set was 21-13 before the Patriots notched the final four points for the win.
Jay County trailed in the second set 7-3, and had trouble fending off the Knights.
After Kunkler notched two kills and a block to help the Patriots take an 8-7 advantage, neither team was able to lead by more than one point as the score was tied a total of 13 times. The last was 22-22, and Jay County got the final three points to close out its first match win of the day.
“That’s the way we’ve been playing all year long,” Medler said. “We get started and then we have a little bit of lag and things die off. But today it didn’t cost us.”
Jay County was hardly challenged by Anderson as it cruised to the sweep. A pair of aces helped the Patriots take six of the first seven points. The Indians only scored consecutive points on two occasions, both as a result from mishaps by the Patriots.
Pryor ran off three aces in the span of five points as Jay County grabbed a 17-7 advantage. The Patriots ripped five straight points to begin the second set, and once led 15-2. Three of Anderson's five points in the set were from JCHS serve errors.
In the opening set against the Giants, Pryor tallied four consecutive aces as she attacked the middle of the Giants’ back row. It helped the Patriots to a 5-0 run for a 12-3 lead, and Kunkler served her squad to seven straight points, complete with her only two aces of the day.
In all, Jay County finished with 29 aces.
“I think what makes this squad so successful at serving is that we work hard on serving zones and placing the ball a lot during practice,” Pryor said.
Olivia Kunkler, Alana’s sister, led Jay County with 14 kills. Hallie Fields was second on the squad with a dozen, and the younger Kunkler joined them in double figures with 10.
Randi Ferguson’s 21 digs were a team-best, and Denney also had 29 assists in setting up the JCHS offense.
Natalie Miles and the Kunklers had three blocks apiece.
Junior varsity
Jay County dropped its first match of the day but rebounded to place second in its tournament.
The Patriots lost their opening match to the Northeastern Knights 25-21, 25-15, but rebounded to beat both the Anderson Indians (25-16, 25-13) and Marion Giants (25-10, 25-8) to finish runner up.
Lilly Hedges was the lone Patriot player to notch double-digit kills as she finished with a baker’s dozen. Hannah Muhlenkamp was second on the squad with eight, and Kylie Klopfenstein tallied six for third.
Jay County bested its varsity counterparts by racking up 34 aces, led by Izzy Rodgers’ nine. Maddy Wenk contributed six.
Grace Brewster had a team-high 18 digs, while Pacie Denney recorded 27 assists.
All Rights Reserved
The Patriots weren’t able to win their invitational a year ago, snapping a streak of four straight titles in the early-season tournament.
They were rarely challenged Saturday.
A season after falling in the final match of the day, the host Jay County High School volleyball team steamrolled its way to win the Patriot Invitational.
“Actually we played fairly well throughout the day,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team beat the Northeastern Knights (25-13, 25-22), Anderson Indians (25-11, 25-5) and Marion Giants (25-11, 25-11) to win its fifth title in the last six years. “We struggle right now with consistency as far as playing a full game that’s where I want us to play. Up until today. Today I thought we played every game pretty solid all the way through.”
JCHS senior Maggie Pryor, who excelled from the service line by sharing the team high of eight aces with classmate Kailee Denney, was proud of the way her team was able to bounce back from the runner-up finish a year ago.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “Winning this tournament always gives us confidence that we’ll have a great season. This year’s team works well together and brings a lot of energy to the court.”
The strong start began for Jay County (6-3) as it opened play against Northwestern with eight consecutive points. Denney nailed three aces in a row to force a Knight timeout with the Patriots on top 6-0.
Northwestern got within five, 9-4, before a Sara Hemmelgarn kill kick-started a stretch of six straight points. Alana Kunkler also had a kill in the run, and an ace helped the Patriots make it 15-4.
The closest the Knights got the rest of the set was 21-13 before the Patriots notched the final four points for the win.
Jay County trailed in the second set 7-3, and had trouble fending off the Knights.
After Kunkler notched two kills and a block to help the Patriots take an 8-7 advantage, neither team was able to lead by more than one point as the score was tied a total of 13 times. The last was 22-22, and Jay County got the final three points to close out its first match win of the day.
“That’s the way we’ve been playing all year long,” Medler said. “We get started and then we have a little bit of lag and things die off. But today it didn’t cost us.”
Jay County was hardly challenged by Anderson as it cruised to the sweep. A pair of aces helped the Patriots take six of the first seven points. The Indians only scored consecutive points on two occasions, both as a result from mishaps by the Patriots.
Pryor ran off three aces in the span of five points as Jay County grabbed a 17-7 advantage. The Patriots ripped five straight points to begin the second set, and once led 15-2. Three of Anderson's five points in the set were from JCHS serve errors.
In the opening set against the Giants, Pryor tallied four consecutive aces as she attacked the middle of the Giants’ back row. It helped the Patriots to a 5-0 run for a 12-3 lead, and Kunkler served her squad to seven straight points, complete with her only two aces of the day.
In all, Jay County finished with 29 aces.
“I think what makes this squad so successful at serving is that we work hard on serving zones and placing the ball a lot during practice,” Pryor said.
Olivia Kunkler, Alana’s sister, led Jay County with 14 kills. Hallie Fields was second on the squad with a dozen, and the younger Kunkler joined them in double figures with 10.
Randi Ferguson’s 21 digs were a team-best, and Denney also had 29 assists in setting up the JCHS offense.
Natalie Miles and the Kunklers had three blocks apiece.
Junior varsity
Jay County dropped its first match of the day but rebounded to place second in its tournament.
The Patriots lost their opening match to the Northeastern Knights 25-21, 25-15, but rebounded to beat both the Anderson Indians (25-16, 25-13) and Marion Giants (25-10, 25-8) to finish runner up.
Lilly Hedges was the lone Patriot player to notch double-digit kills as she finished with a baker’s dozen. Hannah Muhlenkamp was second on the squad with eight, and Kylie Klopfenstein tallied six for third.
Jay County bested its varsity counterparts by racking up 34 aces, led by Izzy Rodgers’ nine. Maddy Wenk contributed six.
Grace Brewster had a team-high 18 digs, while Pacie Denney recorded 27 assists.
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