Jay blasts hosts (10/01/01)

MARION — The Patriots had been chasing the 5-0 all year. They finally got it.

Jay County’s boys tennis team picked up its first shutout victory of the year Thursday, topping the winless host Marion Giants in the first round of sectional action 5-0.

The victory pushed the Patriots one step closer to yet another sectional final appearance. They have played in four consecutive championship matches at Marion, winning titles in 2000 and 2002.

They will play in sectional semifinal action against Blackford today at 3:30 p.m. Defending champion Mississinewa will meet Madison-Grant in the other semifinal contest.

The championship match will be Saturday at 10 a.m.

“That’s a good way to start a sectional,” said Jay County coach Barry Weaver, whose team improved to 8-7 on the year. “After last night obviously we were concerned about what was going to happen and how it was going to happen. I’ll sleep a little bit better tonight knowing that they’ve got the idea and I think they’re starting to get excited about it.”

The shutout victory came as the Patriots got just their second win at No. 3 singles all season, which also happened to be freshman Joshua Ludy’s first career varsity victory.

Ludy got off to a solid start, winning the first three games. He lost the next two before building a 5-2 advantage, only to have Marion’s Jordan Shanks rally again.

Shanks managed to win three of the next four games before Ludy finished off the first set 7-5.

Ludy took a 5-3 lead in the second set, but failed to convert a match point in the next game. Shanks took advantage of three unforced errors to cut his deficit to one game.

However, Ludy played well in the 11th game, finally ending the match when Shanks hit a service return into the net.

“Josh’s first win, that’s a big one for him,” said Weaver. “I’m real happy for him as freshman to get that accomplished.”

Jay County looked better across the board than it had a night before in a 3-2 loss to Bellmont in which Ludy and both doubles teams took defeats.

Against the Giants, the No. 1 doubles pair of Randy Evans and Tyler Rigby took a 3-0 lead in the first set and never trailed. Ryan Wright and Kyle Carter of Marion pulled to within 5-3, but Rigby dominated the ninth game with his serving and Evans used an overhead slam to finish the set.

The Patriot pair cruised in the second set to complete a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

The No. 2 doubles duo of Travis Smith and Adam Arnold shut out Justin Wise and Michael Baldridge in the first set on the way to a 6-0, 6-2 win.

Kurtis Hess continued his dominance at No. 1 singles, crushing Tyler Edmonds 6-0, 6-0 in just over a half hour. He is now 15-3 on the season.

Matthias Scherer led just 4-3 against Ryan Newton at No. 2 singles. However, he won each of the next eight games for a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

“We acted like we got some of the rust off of us from the last week or week-and-a-half,” Weaver said. “We hit the ball, we chased it down and little bit better. It’s amazing how the movement of the feet translates to the movement of the rest of the body. When you get your feet ready the rest of the body comes with them.”[[In-content Ad]]