September 25, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
Patriots lose road battle to Stars
Jay spikers fight but fall short to SA
Patriots lose road battle to Stars
BERNE — When the Patriots and Starfires met earlier this season in the conference tournament, the Patriots were working on a shuffled lineup.
The Patriots had to figure out how to gel together quickly, and eventually finished fifth after two-set loss to the Starfires.
With a few matches under their belt since then, the Patriots had another battle on their hands at StarDome on Tuesday.
Like the first meeting, it just didn’t go their way.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team lost to the South Adams Starfires, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16.
“Two weeks ago was a battle and tonight was too,” South Adams coach Ashley Buckingham said. “We knew they were going to have a lot of hitting potential. They have tons of height. When you let them get going offensively they can really be a tough team to handle. We knew we had to be consistent, which we struggled with some of the time.
“We also knew we were going to need to serve really well to keep them out of system on that first ball. Honestly it was a tough match then and again tonight.”
After splitting the first two sets — South Adams (17-10, 3-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) won the opener while Jay County (11-15, 2-2 ACAC) took the second — the third was about as evenly matched as could get.
With help from two of Lydia Loshe’s match-high 15 kills, South Adams used a four-point run to even the third set at 9-9. From there, neither team was able to get solid control as the score was tied at every point up to 21, with exception of 18. The Starfires won consecutive points on only three occasions; the Patriots did it twice.
A JCHS serving error tied the score at 21 apiece, but that’s when South Adams freshman Peyton Pries went back to the service line and gave the Starfires a bit of consistency, something neither team had previously in the set.
“She put the ball in a great location and the girls were able to really play some great defense,” Buckingham said. “Jay County brought some good hits, they had some good times, and we read them really well so we could be aggressive.
“I think when we started hitting early in points that helped us be more effective.”
Jay County coach Karley Reid agreed it was a battle throughout.
The Patriots had to figure out how to gel together quickly, and eventually finished fifth after two-set loss to the Starfires.
With a few matches under their belt since then, the Patriots had another battle on their hands at StarDome on Tuesday.
Like the first meeting, it just didn’t go their way.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team lost to the South Adams Starfires, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16.
“Two weeks ago was a battle and tonight was too,” South Adams coach Ashley Buckingham said. “We knew they were going to have a lot of hitting potential. They have tons of height. When you let them get going offensively they can really be a tough team to handle. We knew we had to be consistent, which we struggled with some of the time.
“We also knew we were going to need to serve really well to keep them out of system on that first ball. Honestly it was a tough match then and again tonight.”
After splitting the first two sets — South Adams (17-10, 3-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) won the opener while Jay County (11-15, 2-2 ACAC) took the second — the third was about as evenly matched as could get.
With help from two of Lydia Loshe’s match-high 15 kills, South Adams used a four-point run to even the third set at 9-9. From there, neither team was able to get solid control as the score was tied at every point up to 21, with exception of 18. The Starfires won consecutive points on only three occasions; the Patriots did it twice.
A JCHS serving error tied the score at 21 apiece, but that’s when South Adams freshman Peyton Pries went back to the service line and gave the Starfires a bit of consistency, something neither team had previously in the set.
“She put the ball in a great location and the girls were able to really play some great defense,” Buckingham said. “Jay County brought some good hits, they had some good times, and we read them really well so we could be aggressive.
“I think when we started hitting early in points that helped us be more effective.”
Jay County coach Karley Reid agreed it was a battle throughout.
“I feel like the first three games could have pretty much gone any way,” she said. “Our front row came alive that second game and I think we were getting int heir heads with our blocks and some of our swings … We were just fighting for every point those first three games.”
Hoping to force a fifth set, Jay County grabbed the first three points of the fourth and had a 4-1 lead. But the Starfires responded with three straight points, including kills from Carlie Sealscott and Katelyn Hamrick.
Hamrick was second on the team with eight kills and Sealscott chipped in seven.
Set four had the score tied at every point from four through nine — in total the match was deadlocked 31 times — until Taylor Braun fired one of her three kills. Jade Baker ripped an ace for the next point as South Adams had a 7-2 run and never looked back.
“The last game we just kind of got down on ourselves,” Reid said. “I think we just defeated ourselves there. We did not play our game. We could have won (or) at least made it closer than it was.”
Natalie Miles and Alana Kunkler paced Jay County with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Miles also led the team with 16 digs, and Kunkler stopped five SAHS attacks. Madison Dirksen notched four blocks to go with her 13 digs and three kills.
Junior varsity
Jay County stayed close with South Adams in the opening set but couldn’t do the same during the second in a 25-22, 25-10 loss.
Lilly Hedges had three kills for Jay County. Madison Brunswick recorded a pair of kills and two blocks, and Izzy Rodgers contributed seven assist and six digs.
Hoping to force a fifth set, Jay County grabbed the first three points of the fourth and had a 4-1 lead. But the Starfires responded with three straight points, including kills from Carlie Sealscott and Katelyn Hamrick.
Hamrick was second on the team with eight kills and Sealscott chipped in seven.
Set four had the score tied at every point from four through nine — in total the match was deadlocked 31 times — until Taylor Braun fired one of her three kills. Jade Baker ripped an ace for the next point as South Adams had a 7-2 run and never looked back.
“The last game we just kind of got down on ourselves,” Reid said. “I think we just defeated ourselves there. We did not play our game. We could have won (or) at least made it closer than it was.”
Natalie Miles and Alana Kunkler paced Jay County with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Miles also led the team with 16 digs, and Kunkler stopped five SAHS attacks. Madison Dirksen notched four blocks to go with her 13 digs and three kills.
Junior varsity
Jay County stayed close with South Adams in the opening set but couldn’t do the same during the second in a 25-22, 25-10 loss.
Lilly Hedges had three kills for Jay County. Madison Brunswick recorded a pair of kills and two blocks, and Izzy Rodgers contributed seven assist and six digs.
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