July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
JC gritty in victory (08/22/07)
JCHS volleyball
JC gritty in victory (08/22/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
Scrappiness.
Guts.
Toughness.
Grit.
Fortitude.
No matter the term, the Patriots showed it in Tuesday's fifth and deciding game.
Despite essentially dominating the first three games against the Adams Central Flying Jets, Jay County's volleyball team ended up in a deciding fifth game. But with the match on the line the Patriots came alive, running off four straight points from a 4-4 tie and never trailing again in a 25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 13-25, 15-9 victory.
Jay County (5-2) spent the final game getting to balls thattypically fell to the floor during the Flying Jets' comebacks in the first three games and their domination of the fourth.
"That's the grit that we were talking about before the season started that we really wanted to see," said Medler, whose team improved to 5-2. "They actually have shown that this year at times ...
"We came out on fire in the fifth game and didn't let down, which is really, really good."
With the match on the line, the Patriots chased the ball all over - and off - the court.
Stephanie Wellman came up with a particularly impressive save, sliding her hand just between the ball and the floor. That effort led to a Sarah Mescher kill that gave JCHS a 7-4 lead.
Sharon Dirksen pulled an overpass out of the net three points later, and that save resulted in an Adams Central error to push the Patriot lead to 9-5. The Flying Jets got within two at 10-8, but Jay County took five of the next six points and capped the victory with a Wellman ace - it was her third of the game - off the net.
"We were just telling them there was nothing we were doing hugely wrong. We just can't come out and miss two serves in a row without scoring some points out of those serves. And we did in game four," Medler said of his team's 25-13 loss in the fourth game. "We were 1-for-3 our first three servers and didn't get any points out of it."
Jay County still had two service errors in the final game, but managed to avoid the comeback pattern the Jets developed in the first three.
The Patriots seemed the dominant team in those opening games. They scored seven of the first eight points and led 14-7 in game one, used an 8-1 run for a 17-8 lead in game two and exploded out to a 13-1 advantage in game three.
However, Adams Central (0-3) closed the gap each time and even finished the second game on a 10-2 run to eke out a victory. The visiting team owned the fourth game to force the fifth, but Flying Jets coach Sarah Weldy was frustrated by the overall effort.
"We're just not playing together as a team right now. We're not clicking. It's pretty disappointing right now," she said, adding that when her team did have success it was mostly because of better communication. "Defensively, we looked OK, but there were stretches where we just gave up on balls. That's not Adams Central volleyball. ... The girls are going to have to change their mentality and change their focus right now. They're not walking into games ready to play."
Sarah Mescher shared team highs of 10 digs and nine kills for the Patriots, and was also second on the squad with 10 points. Sarah Westgerdes and Shelby Rines also had nine kills apiece, and Westgerdes added three blocks.
"Sarah Westgerdes came out for the first time this year and was just on fire at the beginning and that helped set the tone early," said Medler of the junior, who had three of her kills in the first 10 points of the opening game. "Then we just kept digging and digging."
Chelsea Grady matched Mescher's 10 digs. Stephanie Wellman racked up 22 points and eight assists, and Sharon Dirksen finished with 25 assists.
Bailey Gerke led all attackers with 11 kills for the Jets, and Chelsea Selking followed with seven. Kristen Everett came up with 36 digs, and Kayla Forman had 20 digs and 31 assists.
After playing seven matches in the first eight days of the season, Medler is looking forward to some practice time. But first, "We're going to take tomorrow off," he said. "Then we'll come back Thursday and Friday and practice for Saturday's (Heritage Invitational). They need a breather."
Junior varsity
The Patriots split their back-to-back matches against Adams County schools, falling 15-25, 25-17, 15-9 Tuesday to Adams Central following a 25-9, 25-10 victory Monday over South Adams.
Laura Castillo led Jay County Tuesday with team highs of 11 points on 13-of-13 serving and four digs to go along with three kills. Kelsey Wood had four kills and three digs, and Liz Walker finished with six assists.
Taylor Burris had five points, including a pair of aces, and Ashley Langenkamp notched four assists.
Wood led Monday's destruction of South Adams with six digs and four kills, both team bests. She also had seven points.
Walker totaled 10 points and six assists, and Castillo added seven points.[[In-content Ad]]
Guts.
Toughness.
Grit.
Fortitude.
No matter the term, the Patriots showed it in Tuesday's fifth and deciding game.
Despite essentially dominating the first three games against the Adams Central Flying Jets, Jay County's volleyball team ended up in a deciding fifth game. But with the match on the line the Patriots came alive, running off four straight points from a 4-4 tie and never trailing again in a 25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 13-25, 15-9 victory.
Jay County (5-2) spent the final game getting to balls thattypically fell to the floor during the Flying Jets' comebacks in the first three games and their domination of the fourth.
"That's the grit that we were talking about before the season started that we really wanted to see," said Medler, whose team improved to 5-2. "They actually have shown that this year at times ...
"We came out on fire in the fifth game and didn't let down, which is really, really good."
With the match on the line, the Patriots chased the ball all over - and off - the court.
Stephanie Wellman came up with a particularly impressive save, sliding her hand just between the ball and the floor. That effort led to a Sarah Mescher kill that gave JCHS a 7-4 lead.
Sharon Dirksen pulled an overpass out of the net three points later, and that save resulted in an Adams Central error to push the Patriot lead to 9-5. The Flying Jets got within two at 10-8, but Jay County took five of the next six points and capped the victory with a Wellman ace - it was her third of the game - off the net.
"We were just telling them there was nothing we were doing hugely wrong. We just can't come out and miss two serves in a row without scoring some points out of those serves. And we did in game four," Medler said of his team's 25-13 loss in the fourth game. "We were 1-for-3 our first three servers and didn't get any points out of it."
Jay County still had two service errors in the final game, but managed to avoid the comeback pattern the Jets developed in the first three.
The Patriots seemed the dominant team in those opening games. They scored seven of the first eight points and led 14-7 in game one, used an 8-1 run for a 17-8 lead in game two and exploded out to a 13-1 advantage in game three.
However, Adams Central (0-3) closed the gap each time and even finished the second game on a 10-2 run to eke out a victory. The visiting team owned the fourth game to force the fifth, but Flying Jets coach Sarah Weldy was frustrated by the overall effort.
"We're just not playing together as a team right now. We're not clicking. It's pretty disappointing right now," she said, adding that when her team did have success it was mostly because of better communication. "Defensively, we looked OK, but there were stretches where we just gave up on balls. That's not Adams Central volleyball. ... The girls are going to have to change their mentality and change their focus right now. They're not walking into games ready to play."
Sarah Mescher shared team highs of 10 digs and nine kills for the Patriots, and was also second on the squad with 10 points. Sarah Westgerdes and Shelby Rines also had nine kills apiece, and Westgerdes added three blocks.
"Sarah Westgerdes came out for the first time this year and was just on fire at the beginning and that helped set the tone early," said Medler of the junior, who had three of her kills in the first 10 points of the opening game. "Then we just kept digging and digging."
Chelsea Grady matched Mescher's 10 digs. Stephanie Wellman racked up 22 points and eight assists, and Sharon Dirksen finished with 25 assists.
Bailey Gerke led all attackers with 11 kills for the Jets, and Chelsea Selking followed with seven. Kristen Everett came up with 36 digs, and Kayla Forman had 20 digs and 31 assists.
After playing seven matches in the first eight days of the season, Medler is looking forward to some practice time. But first, "We're going to take tomorrow off," he said. "Then we'll come back Thursday and Friday and practice for Saturday's (Heritage Invitational). They need a breather."
Junior varsity
The Patriots split their back-to-back matches against Adams County schools, falling 15-25, 25-17, 15-9 Tuesday to Adams Central following a 25-9, 25-10 victory Monday over South Adams.
Laura Castillo led Jay County Tuesday with team highs of 11 points on 13-of-13 serving and four digs to go along with three kills. Kelsey Wood had four kills and three digs, and Liz Walker finished with six assists.
Taylor Burris had five points, including a pair of aces, and Ashley Langenkamp notched four assists.
Wood led Monday's destruction of South Adams with six digs and four kills, both team bests. She also had seven points.
Walker totaled 10 points and six assists, and Castillo added seven points.[[In-content Ad]]
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