No. 1 sweeps Patriots

The Patriots hung right with one of the best teams in the state in the third set.

They trailed just once in the first 42 points before the visitors made a late run to end the match.

Their coach felt they were capable of much more.

A chance to win the third set slipped away from the Jay County High School volleyball team Thursday night in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-22 loss to the Class 2A No. 1 Wapahani Raiders.

“I’m not extremely pleased with my team,” said JCHS coach Amy Dillon. “I think that we could have competed a lot better than we did. And I think we did what we always do. … We came in thinking, ‘It’s Wapahani. They beat Delta. Delta beat us.’ I really think that we could have at least taken a set or two off of them, at least competed better.”

Maria Hemmelgarn caught fire for the Patriots (3-3) in the third set — Dillon changed the lineup to move Lani Muhlenkamp to libero and use Carley Trinidad on defense — recording three early kills en route to an 8-4 lead. Jay County was ahead until the Raiders (10-1) took a 14-13 advantage.

Another 4-1 run, including kills from Hemmelgarn and Elizabeth Barnett, put the Patriots up again. Wapahani fought back to tie the match at 19 and 20, then slipped behind 21-20 on a service error.

Hemmelgarn, who already had six kills in the set, went on the attack in hopes of pushing her team to within three points of victory. But Raider senior AnnMarie Gibson hopped up in front of her and delivered a block, and Jay County was unable to get the ball back over the net.

“She’s one of our best blockers, usually leads in the conference,” said WHS coach Valorie Wells. “We really need her to be strong in the front row.”

Gibson (three blocks, two aces, eight kills) then recorded an ace as she sparked a four-point run that put Wapahani in command. Tatum Dudley finished the match on a kill that glanced off of Barnett’s arm as she finished with nine kills, one behind teammates Sophia Beeson and Kami Rivers.

Emily Luce and Beeson had 16 and 15 digs, respectively, for the Raiders, and Megan Luce totaled 19 assists.

“I thought first set we looked really good but then kind of just let off the gas a little bit,” said Wells, whose team’s only loss came in three sets Tuesday to Class 4A No. 3 Yorktown. “But I’m glad we finished strong because we were down in that third set. They really pushed through and finished. I was proud that they did that.”

While Wells was happy with the way her team finished, Dillon was especially distressed with the way Jay County started the match.

The Patriots committed three errors and allowed an ace as Wapahani opened with a 9-4 lead. It was a pattern that continued, as Dillon said she counted 17 errors as her team dropped the first set 25-17. (The final point came on a service error. And all three JCHS services errors in the opening set were on first serve attempts.)

“Lots and lots of errors — errors that we just handed to them,” said Dillon, whose team has now dropped back-to-back matches to slip to .500. “Communication errors. Dig errors because we weren’t getting in position, and in the net. Tipping balls out of bounds.”

The strong final set pushed Hemmelgarn to a team-high 10 kills. She also matched Brenna Schmiesing with a pair of blocks.

“Maria is just coming along so well,” said Dillon. “That girl works really hard. She comes in and she soaks it all in and she’s just doing a really good job at picking up on everything.”

Mya Kunkler, who had a strong second set, followed Hemmelgarn with eight kills. Schmiesing added six.

Paisley Fugiett totaled 23 assists and two aces. Kayla Jetmore came up with a team-high 11 digs, and Barnett followed with 10.

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Jay County vs. Wapahani volleyball (09/05/2024)

Junior varsity

Jay County held off the Raiders in a tight second set for a 25-8, 25-23 sweep.

Chloe Byrum finished with a dozen service points, including three aces, for the Patriots. Lydia Johnson and Amelia Heath had five kills apiece, with Ella Rigby totaling 19 assists.

Carley Trinidad had a team-high nine digs.