Dirksen drops sectional final

MUNCIE — Thirty-seven members of the Dirksen family were together Thursday night.

But it wasn’t a family reunion. They came to support one of their own.

Members of the Dirksen family gathered at YMCA of Muncie to support Abraham Dirksen of Jay County High School as he played in the IHSAA boys tennis individual sectional tournament championship. Dirksen played against Alex Sagarra, an exchange student from Switzerland attending Westfield, losing 6-0, 6-0.

The match was originally supposed to be played at Noblesville High School, but was relocated to the indoor courts at YMCA of Muncie because of inclement weather.

Dirksen was outmatched against Sagarra, who only allowed Dirksen to reach game point once.

“I couldn’t have done much about that,” said Dirksen, a senior. “He could put them where he wanted them.”

Sagarra started strong, not giving up a single point to Dirksen in the first game. Dirksen gradually improved throughout the set, earning one extra point each game until the fourth when he got the closest to beating his opponent.

They traded off points to begin the game. When Dirksen was behind 40-30, he scored back-to-back points on a volley that only nicked off of Sagarra’s racket and a forehand that Sagarra sent wide left to earn game point.

A trio of hitting errors by Dirksen on a pair of forehands and a volley that he swung hard on into the net gave Sagarra the game.

He would lose the fifth and sixth games, scoring one point in each.

“I thought in the first set he was a little shellshocked,” JCHS coach Donald Gillespie said. “As the match went on, I thought he gained a little bit and understood what he needed to do. Abe represented Jay County the best he could represent and the best any of us could represent.”

In the second set, Dirksen made it to deuce twice, but couldn’t find an advantage to pull away.

Sagarra dominated at the net, securing a point almost every time he crept up and started volleying.

“My goal was to get a good approaching shot,” Sagarra said. “It’s easier to follow up to the net if you have a good approaching shot. Then, if I have the chance to make an offensive volley, I’ll try to hit it into the other half of the court where he’s not.”

With that strategy, Sagarra was able to get the ball past Dirksen or would force a hitting error.

The match ended with a sweep in the final game. For the first point, Dirksen hit his forehand too far to the left. On the second, Sagarra hit a volley that was out of Dirksen’s reach. Dirksen hit a backhand that flew long and out of the court to give Sagarra match point.

The final point came on another volley. Sagarra set Dirksen up on the right half of the court. Dirksen returned with a backhand so that he was facing the right half. Sagarra then hit a strong volley to the left half of the court. Dirksen turned and stepped to the ball but wasn’t able to return it.

Playing at No. 1 singles all season, Dirksen racked up a record of 20-5 and had won four tournament matches before falling to Sagarra.

The senior was a four-year letter winner for the tennis team. He was able to reflect on having so many family members come out for his final high school match.

“It was special,” Dirksen said. “I didn't think that many would come, but I’m glad to see they came out to support me.”