Jay County tennis tops Union City

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The Indians are coming off the program’s first sectional title in more than two decades.

But they only return one player. So the Patriots took advantage.

The Jay County High School boys tennis team avenged a pair of losses from last year, one of which came in the sectional tournament, as it beat the Union City Indians 4-1 Tuesday in its home opener.

It is quite a turnaround from the pair of 5-0 defeats to Union City a year ago.

“That has everything to do with what they lost,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller. “They have one returning varsity player and he was their No. 1 singles player.”

And that match, John Carpenter of Union City against Conner Benter, was the only one that went the Indians’ way. Benter won the first game but lost six in a row to drop the first set. Oftentimes, Benter struggled to take advantage of Carpenter’s second serve.

“He started out well but then his expectations of what he thought the match was going to be didn’t meet up with the reality of what the match actually was,” Miller said. “When reality set in out there he didn’t recover well.”

Carpenter controlled the second set as well for the 6-1, 6-2 victory.

The Patriots (1-1) hadn’t practiced much in the last week because of inclement weather, so it took a little bit to shake off some rust. The No. 1 doubles team of Xavier Ninde and Sheldon Upp fell victim to that in their match against Hunter Reagan and Cale Jeffers. Upp and Ninde dropped the opening game, but grabbed four of the next six for a 4-3 advantage. During the stretch, Reagan and Jeffers failed to keep the ball away from Upp when he was playing near the net, and the lanky junior slammed most of their returns to take the point.

The Patriot tandem won, 6-3, 6-2.

“After they kind of got their feet underneath them and thinking on their feet and making good decisions out there they started playing better,” Miller said, noting he liked the fact they were making adjustments mid-game.

At No. 2 doubles, Gavin Randall and Christian Romero cruised their way past Brayden Hoggatt and Daniel Eley for a 6-0, 6-2 win. Although this is the first season Randall and Romero have played together, they showed glimpses that they had been longtime teammates.

“I am pleased with the way they played and the confidence they have,” Miller said.

Jay County also got victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles from Gabe Blankenship and Crosby Heniser respectively.

Blankenship won two of the first three games against Jacob Bradbury, then nabbed two of the next three as well to lead 4-2. He never lost another game as he topped Bradbury 6-2, 6-0.

“Very steady match tonight and played very well from the start,” Miller said. “Gabe’s strength is to play his game. He’s not trying to play to his opponent. He’s not trying to over-hit. He stayed really steady tonight.”

Heniser, a freshman, got the first win of his career as he didn’t have to battle too much to beat Tanner Spence 6-0, 6-3. Miller did note, however, he still sensed the youngster was a bit overwhelmed at times but was pleased with how his confidence built throughout the match.

“I still think there were some nerves,” he said. “As the match went on he started swinging a little more free and easy.”

In junior varsity action, Jay County got a pair of singles wins and a doubles victory to win 3-0. Frankie Crump defeated Shaydon Smith 8-0, and Jacob Schoenlein earned an 8-3 win over Wil Botkin. Gavin Myers and Darius Esparza teamed to beat Smith and Botkin 8-2 in their doubles tilt.