Eagles beat JC netters (04/16/08)

Tiffani Bickel and Cindy Muhlenkamp continued their solid play for the Patriots Tuesday night. But they represented the only victory.

Jay County High School's girls tennis team missed a chance to pull even at .500, falling 4-1 to the visiting Frankton Eagles.

Bickel and Muhlenkamp improved to 4-2 as they were able to bounce back from a dismal second set.

After winning six of eight games to take the opening set 6-3, Bickel and Muhlenkamp got shut out by Carissa Ward and Kaylie Ritenour in the second set at No. 1 singles. But they fought back in the third set, forcing a tiebreaker for the match.

Muhlenkamp served for the first point, and the JCHS pair ran out to a 3-0 lead on a drop-shot winning by Bickel. Another three-point run put the Patriots up 6-1 before Ward and Ritenour closed the gap to just two points.

However, the Frankton duo never got closer as their lob attempt on the next point went long, giving Bickel and Muhlenkamp a 6-3 , 0-6, 7-6 (7-4) win.

"No. 1 doubles played a tough match. There's no doubt about it," said Jay County coach Roy Adams. "Frankton is a good team ... and we just hunkered down and pulled it out at the end.

"I'm real pleased with them. They've shown me a lot more than I thought they were at the beginning of the year. I think they're really going to be someone to contend with for a lot of teams. I'm really looking forward to their potential for the rest of the year."

Two other matches went to first-set tiebreakers, but the Patriots fell shot in both on the way to two-set losses.

At No. 1 singles, Megan Adams dropped the first three points of her tiebreaker against Taylor Rhoades. She won the fourth, but then lost four more in a row on the way to her 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 defeat.

Megan Huntsman and Briann Saxman went back and forth with Mollee Deckard and Kate Coryell in the first set at No. 2 doubles. But they also lost in a tiebreaker and dropped the match 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

"We're playing some good sets, but we're not putting it together for a match," said Adams, whose team is now 2-4. "No. 2 doubles went to a tiebreak and then faltered in the second set. We saw No. 1 singles do the same thing.

"I'm proud of what they're doing, but you've got to sustain it throughout the match and we're not quite there yet."

Hannah McAbee suffered a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Sam Willmann at No. 3 singles. In the No. 2 doubles match, Mariah Clark fell 6-0, 6-0 against Anna Neese.

"We've just got to work and continue to develop and grow," said Adams. "And also gain more confidence and believe in ourselves. ...That can be the difference between hitting good strokes and hitting bad strokes."

Junior varsity

Jay County picked up two shutouts, handing the Eagles an 8-3 defeat.

Kayla Martin won every game for an 8-0 victory over Kylie Graham at No. 2 singles. In the No. 3 singles match, Mizuki Saito defeated Raleen Abrams 8-0.

Other victories for JCHS came from Betsy Knittle and the teams of Becky Muhlenkamp and Emily Huntsman, Brittany White and Jenna Wilson, Kellie Howell and Megan McGraw, Dezi Clay and Danielle Chenoweth, and Taylor Bice and Rachel Ray.[[In-content Ad]]