Jay Co. falls to Vikings (10/27/2008)

FORT WAYNE - When the match was on the line, the Vikings had just a little bit extra.

In the sectional semifinal round Saturday at Fort Wayne South Side, the Jay County High School volleyball team pushed the Huntington North Vikings in every game. The second and third were each deadlocked at 25, but the Patriots dropped them both as their season ended in a 25-20, 27-25, 27-25 defeat.

"They're good enough that they can drive you off the floor any time you allow them to. We didn't allow ourselves to be driven off," said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team closed at 16-19. "They had to earn it one point at a time. ... The kids just battled.

"We're disappointed we lost, but not disappointed in the way we played ..."

The Vikings went on to win the sectional championship Saturday evening with a 25-16, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18 victory over Homestead.

Huntington North took a 6-3 lead in the opening game against the Patriots and never trailed, but games two and three were both hotly contested.

Jay County took control in game two thanks in part to a pair of big service runs. The first came from senior Chelsea Grady, who got back to using the jump serve.

Patriot coach Fred Medler said Grady was reluctant to use the jump serve after committing a service error in the first game, but he encouraged her to stick with it.

On her first trip behind the service line in the second game, she pounded home two aces and ran off five consecutive points. Liz Walker added another 5-0 run later with help from kills by Lindsey Current, Sarah Westgerdes and Mariah Hornaday to push the lead to 14-6.

"It was a total spark," Medler said of Grady's serve. "That put them back on their heels. It chased their setter in the first part of the second game. We got up 7-3, and then Walker came in after that and served tough.

"That's what we knew we could hurt them with, or at least we thought we could, was our serve, and make them scramble to set their offense."

JCHS kept the lead throughout that second game, building to a 24-20 advantage on a kill from Westgerdes. However, the Vikings fought back to tie the score behind three kills in four points from Tayah Kline.

The Patriots got a kill from Lindsey Current to pull ahead 25-24, but Huntington North scored the next three points to steal the win.

"We just needed another point," said Medler. "We just needed one more. And then if we get that one, it's a whole different story. But they were able to battle back."

The lead changed hands five times in the third game before JCHS fell behind 23-19. The Patriots weren't done, coming back to tie the score at 24, but again Huntington North came up with the few points it needed

Kline and Melissa Grossman got kills to give the Vikings a 26-25 lead, and Whitney Neuenschwander ended the match with a kill off of Amy Alig's try for a block.

Kline's nine kills were a team-best for the Vikings. She also had 15 digs, and Emile Jamison finished with 35 assists.

Westgerdes, a senior, again led the Jay County offense with 11 kills.

"It took her a few games to get back (after her injury), but once she started getting better she just kept getting better and better and better," said Medler of Westgerdes, who also had four blocks. "From about mid-season on ... she was our go-to player. ... Teams couldn't (stop her). That's just a testament to her and how far she's come as a volleyball player."

Kelsey Wood followed Westgerdes with 10 kills and 12 digs, and Grady had 26 digs and seven points. Kristi Morningstar put up 14 assists, Walker had seven points and Alig added four blocks.

"The seniors are great leaders," said Medler of Westgerdes, Alig, Morningstar, Grady, Reed (five points) and Current (four kills). "It starts with Grady ... just being the positive yeller and screamer, getting them fired up. Then we've just got quiet leadership everywhere else.

"It's a great group of seniors we're going to have trouble replacing ..."

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