Patriots take opener

The Rebels could not stop the Patriot attack.
They couldn’t put together much in the way off offense either.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team controlled the net on both sides of the ball Monday night in a season-opening victory over Randolph Southern.
“They are definitely well-trained at placing the shot,” said Rebel coach Chelsea Gibson, whose team lost in straight games, 25-10, 25-16, 25-16. “I will definitely give them props for that one. They have some good strong power hitters (and) we didn’t have the block there.”
After dropping the first game, Randolph Southern (0-1) got out to a 4-1 lead in the game two thanks to a pair of serve reception errors by Jay County (1-0). The Patriots got their serve back when junior Ava Kunkler found the back left corner for a kill.
Then she, along with classmate Abby Wendel and sophomore Abby Barcus, took over, helping the Patriots score 12 straight points.
During the run, Wendel notched three aces while Barcus had three kills and Kunkler added two kills. Wendel and Kunkler shared the team high with nine kills in the contest, and Bre McIntire was close behind with eight.
Wendel also had a game-high nine aces.
The Rebels cut the deficit to seven, 17-10, but couldn’t get any closer. A kill by Wendel and an ace by Katie Lyons pushed the Patriot lead to eight, and Kunkler tacked on two more kills to close out game two.
In game three, Jay County got out to an early 7-2 lead, but attack errors and miscues on defense by the Patriots allowed the Rebels to get seven of the next 12 points and trail 12-9.
“We had some people a little out of position,” Medler said, adding the Patriots had some communication issues on the defensive side of the ball. “Instead of calling for the ball they were just looking at each other to see what’s going to happen.”
Down three with the potential of tying up game two, things fell apart for the Rebels as they were caught out of position defensively and struggled to find their setter, Morgan Gibson.
“It’s a new thing — new positions for everybody,” Chelsea Gibson said. “We’re kind of adjusting and figuring things out.”
Medler said he was adjusting his lineup as well, noting he used the same lineup in game one that he has been over the last week of practice. That lineup — Emily Westgerdes, McIntire, Barcus, Wendel, Kunkler, and Lyons — took the opening game easily. It wasn’t until midway through the second game he switched things up.
“We were trying lots of different things tonight,” he said, noting he was a little apprehensive to use Kylie Osborne, who just earlier in the day was cleared to play after nursing a rotator cuff injury.
In game one, Jay County was up by three early, 6-3, and went on to take five of the next eight points with the help of back-to-back aces by Michelle Wellman.
Jay County’s surge forced Gibson into taking a timeout, and following the break, Wellman tallied two more aces before the Rebels got the serve back.
The Rebels and Patriots traded the next six points until JCHS sophomore Abby Barcus misjudged a set from Lyons but still managed to find open court for the Patriot point.
Lyons tallied 29 assists in her first game setting at the varsity level. The sophomore is filling in for classmate Lizzy Schoenlein, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
“She did OK,” Jay County coach Fred Medler said of Lyons, who was a libero on the junior varsity team a year ago. “You consider this is her first varsity match as a setter … I thought she did admirably.”
Jay County got up 19-9, then Gibson opted to call another timeout, but the Rebels only mustered one more point in the game.
The Patriots travel to Delta at 6 p.m. Thursday, and Medler knows it is going to be a tough match with the Eagles, who are ranked fourth in Class 3A.
“If we’re in a war and lose I’ll take that with (Delta),” Medler said. “If we’re not careful, they’ll show us where we need to improve.
“They can do that to you and make you look really, really bad. We hope that doesn’t happen.”

Junior varsity
In reserve action, the Patriots beat the Rebels 25-12, 25-19.
Kaelyn Weaver had a team-high eight kills, Audrey Shreve and Emilie Walter had three and two kills respectively.
Alli Campbell tallied 11 assists, while Britlyn Dues added four. Walter also had five digs and two aces.