First time for everything

Tucker Griffin was an eighth grader the last time he picked up a tennis racquet in a competitive match before August.

After dropping his first three matches of his varsity career, the senior finally tasted some success.

He wasn’t the only one, as three more Patriots secured their first career victories to power the team to its first of the year as well.

The Jay County High School boys tennis team picked up its first win of the year, beating sectional foe, the Union City Indians 4-1 on Monday.

The Patriots (1-5) struggled with the beginning third of their season as the front-loaded schedule – including New Castle and Connoersville, which are ranked fifth and sixth in District 4 – resulted in five-straight losses before they picked off the Indians (1-2).

“I feel a lot better,” said JCHS coach Donald Gillespie. “I told (assistant coach Andrea) Garringer before the match ‘4-1, us.’ If we weren’t going to get 4-1, I was going to be concerned tonight. …

“If you look at my record the last four years, it’s always been 1-4, 1-5. It was the way we were getting beat that disappointed me. When you’re getting beat … and only had one point in five matches it gets a little concerning.

“So I thought the kids came back tonight and played really well.”

Before Monday, No. 1 singles player Eli Dirksen owned the only point for Jay County in a 6-3, 6-2 victory at Norwell on Aug. 22. He repeated his luck with a swift 6-0, 6-1 victory over Kolton Mills of UCHS.

“Eli does his own thing,” Gillespie said. “He’s going to get a lot of wins and we know that, but we’ve got to find two more.”

Dirksen secured the second point of the match for the Patriots. The first came from Griffin, a transfer from New Castle, who picked tennis backup for the first time since junior high.

Griffin dropped his first three matches of the year, only winning one game before dominating Anthony Wyatt for a 6-1, 6-0 win in the No. 2 doubles contest.

“I felt pretty excited,” Griffin said. “You know it’s the first varsity win for me and first high school win … I just felt a lot more confident. I’ve been playing a lot more with Eli trying to build up that confidence and I felt pretty confident coming into today.”

The senior found most of his success when he executed his serves and by playing the ball to allow Wyatt to make mistakes rather than forcing action.

That style of play was on display in the second set as Griffin focused on returning the ball, allowing Wyatt to hit long twice, hit his backhand wide left and double fault for the win.

The match ended similarly as Wyatt ran up on a short ball that he skied over to the right side of the court. Griffin made it to the side in time to hit, but patiently waited for the ball to come down and allow it to land right of the line to win without needing to swing.

“I always try and get to everything,” Griffin said. “That kind of what I pride myself on, the hustle there, so no matter what I try to get to it. He was making mistakes today, so I just let it happen.

A pair of new varsity players secured the third point – their first of the season – for the Patriots to win the match. In their fifth match together, Blake Kahlig and Carter Wellman claimed their first varsity victory 6-4, 6-1 over Levi Clark and Luis Nieto.

The Patriots went back and forth with Clark and Nieto in the first set before pulling away with the win, while dominating the second set, getting up 3-0 and closing out the final three. In the final game, Kahlig made a trio of mistakes in a row to go down 40-15 before redeeming himself with a pair of volleys to score and a forehand that neither Indian could reach to claim the match.

“They were talking to each other,” Gillespie said. “If you don’t talk in doubles you’re done. … Communication was better. Not where we needed it but we were better.”

Gabe Pinkerton pulled out his first varsity win as well, holding down Keegan Livingston in the No. 3 singles contest for a 6-2, 6-1 triumph.

Gillespie noted that it was big for Pinkerton to finish out a match after leading in multiple but not sealing the deal.

Kadyn Carpenter and Alex Miller fell for the only JCHS loss. Brennan Hoggatt and Jacob Thornburg defeated the freshmen duo 6-1, 6-2.

While Jay County only has one tally in the win column this year, they are happy to get it, with Griffin describing it as a “burden lifted off (their) shoulders.”

“I’ll leave here tonight, a lot happier than I was when I walked in,” Gillespie said. “I think the kids getting a win is a big advantage. … When I have kids leaving here saying ‘Hey, what time is practice tomorrow?’ I’ve got them where they want to be and I’m ready to ride this now.”

Junior varsity

The Patriots only took one of four junior varsity matches against Union City.

Jacob Monroe opened up his season with an 8-0 win over Grant Elliot.

Carson Westgerdes couldn’t overcome Elliot, falling 8-4.

In a pair of doubles matches, the Indians duo of Gabe Tapp and Gabe Thomas defeated came out on top.

They beat Troy Lee and Kason Sims 6-5 before topping Joseph Nichols and Clark Wellman 6-4.

Photo Gallery

Jay County boys tennis vs. Union City (8/26/2024)