Bellmont overpowers Jay County netters (04/09/04)

PORTLAND — No matter what type of match, Jay County came up on the wrong end.

Matches ranged from blowouts to nail-biters in Thursday’s windy conditions. But, the Patriot tennis team (1-1) lost all of them in a 5-0 defeat to the visiting Bellmont Squaws.

The closest of those matches came at No. 1 doubles. It couldn’t have been much tighter.

In what looked to be a headed for a Jay County victory, Julie Sours and Erin St. Myers built a 4-1 lead over Margaret Kunkel and Toni Suarez of Bellmont. But, the lead disappeared and fans were treated to a double-tiebreaker.

After the Squaws rallied to take the first set, they again forced a tiebreaker in the second after trailing 6-5. With the match on the line Sours and St. Myers fell behind 4-2 and 6-4 in the tiebreaker before making things interesting.

The Patriot pair fought off the back-to-back match points for Bellmont, winning three consecutive points — one on a St. Myers slam and two more on unforced errors by Kunkel — to pull ahead 7-6. But, it was the last advantage Jay County would see.

The Squaws (1-0) pulled even when St. Myers hit a shot into the net. And, although she and Sours fought off two more Bellmont match points, they couldn’t force a third set.

Finally, the Squaws took the second set — 7-6 (11-9) — and the match when Sours and St. Myers collided beyond the baseline as they both tried to track down a lob.

“What I heard from most of my girls is that they have to work on the mental part of the game,” said Jay County coach Barb Stults, whose team will play at Marion Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. “That comes from experience.”

Kunkel and Suarez took the first set by the same score as the second, even after falling behind. Staring at a 5-2 deficit, they won four of the next five games to force the first tiebreaker.

Sours and St. Myers lost the first two points, but then rolled to five in a row for a 5-2 lead. The rallied included an excellent volley winner by Sours.

But, Bellmont’s duo rallied back to win four straight points — all on unforced errors by Jay County — in what became a war of attrition.

Each team had two chances to end the set before a St. Myers shot flew into the net to give the Squaws the 7-6 (11-9) first-set win.

The No. 1 doubles match was as close as the Patriots would come to earning the victory on the night.

Bellmont’s No. 3 singles player Rachel Blaky shut out Angie Stults 6-0, 6-0. The Squaws’ Ashley Huffine was nearly as solid in topping Stephanie Homan 6-1, 6-1.

“It was a tough team,” said Barb Stults. “I think they were just an all-around (good team). That’s what it takes to win.”

Jay County struggled early at No. 2 doubles, but rallied to stay in the match.

Erin Schmiesing and Chelsea Reff fell behind Missy Irwin and Maggie Mayer 4-1 before winning three of the next four games to cut the gap to 5-4. But, Irwin and Mayer finished off the set 6-4.

Schmiesing and Reff still were able to take advantage of the momentum they built late in the first set, taking leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the second. However, they lost the next four games in the 6-4, 6-3 defeat.

Whitney Schemenaur was also able to stay in the battle with Holly Greyer at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set 6-3 Schemenaur lost the first three games of the second. She bounced back to win the next three, but still suffered a 6-3, 6-3 loss.

Junior varsity

Jay County’s junior varsity team also suffered a 5-0 defeat to the Bellmont Squaws Thursday.

Brianne Morrical dropped an 8-3 decision to Valyssa Parish at No. 1 singles. In other singles action Annika Kuitzsch and Lauren Budde were shut out 8-0 by Renee Rodriguez and Melissa Hammond respectively.

Jessica DeRome and Janae Horn lost 8-2 to Molly Martin and Megan Martin at No. 1 doubles, while Amanda Hicks and Shonda Sutton fell 8-3 to Sara Werling and Kacey Steiner.[[In-content Ad]]