Marion eliminates Jay

MARION — Three straight wins marked a strong finish to the regular season for the Patriots. That momentum was not enough against a team that has dominated the sectional for two decades.
The Jay County High School girls tennis team saw its campaign come to a close Wednesday with a 5-0 loss to the Marion Giants, who took the first step toward their goal of a 19th sectional title in the last 20 years.
“I think all of my players played well,” said JCHS coach Susan Garringer, whose team showed stronger efforts against Marion than in their 5-0 regular-season defeat. “I can definitely see improvement from the beginning of the season, and I’m really happy with that.
“Their team has such depth. A lot of their players play year round. You can tell by their serves, by their net game, that they’ve had a lot of instruction.”
The Giants (13-5), whose 29 sectional titles are second in the state to Munster’s 35, are seeking their 10th straight championship. The only team to break their run in the last 20 years was Jay County in 2001.
While Marion managed to play 17 regular-season matches this year, the Patriots were limited to only 11. They missed four dual matches — including three that would have been played at home — as well as the DeKalb Invitational because of the rainy spring weather.
“I wish the season wasn’t over,” said Garringer, whose team opened 1-7 before earning consecutive wins over Muncie Southside, Connersville and Blackford to close the regular-season. “With the rain we had, practices were few and far between before that, but then there were no practices whatsoever.
“I wish the season were longer, because I think we’d be winning some more matches.”
In the first meeting between Jay County and Marion this season, the Giants scored shutout victories at both No. 1 positions. The Patriots were able to give more of a battle in the tournament.
Danielle Chenoweth and Ashley Caupp grabbed a game in the opening set at No. 1 doubles before falling 6-1, and then fought back in the second set with the match on the line.
Trailing 5-1 with Caupp serving, the Patriot pair fell behind 40-15 to give Marion’s Sara Lyons and Nithia Chowattukunnel a double match point.
However, Chowattukunnel sent a shot long and then Lyons miss-hit a shot to put the game back at deuce.
Chenoweth came up with a volley that Chowattukunnel couldn’t send back over the net, and then Lyons committed an unforced error as JCHS took the game to stay alive. However, the Giants bounced back as Chowattukunnel served out the next game at love for a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Huntsman fell behind 3-0 in her rematch at No. 1 singles against Veronica Sandoval, but was able to grab a game to close the gap.
But Sandoval broke her serve at love to end the first set, and did it again to close out the match 6-1, 6-0.
“They keep the ball in play longer,” said Garringer. “And even though the set scores weren’t close, there were a lot of games that went to deuce. They definitely put up more of a fight than they did earlier in the season.”
Rachel Ray, who played junior varsity against Marion during the regular season, won more games than anyone else on the JCHS squad in the tournament.
After dropping the first three games, the senior picked up one in the first set and then grabbed another early in the second to trail 2-1. Marion’s Maddie Lester took three of the next four games, and then won the match 6-1, 6-2 when a shot by Ray went wide to the right.
“Rachel has a lot more confidence on the court than she had at the beginning of this year,” Garringer said. “She really stepped up. Her game got more aggressive. She was moving better on the court. … She’s a much smarter tennis player than she was earlier this year.”
Like their teammates at No. 1 doubles, the No. 2 doubles pair of Alicia Degler and Kyla McKibben was strongest when the match was on the line.
They were blanked in the first set, but picked up a game early in the second. Marion rebounded to push to a 5-1 lead in the second, but Degler served the Patriots to a victory to make it 5-2.
Marion’s Sarah Highbaugh repeatedly looked as if she had the match wrapped up as she served to a 40-love lead in the next game. But McKibben and Degler fought back to deuce and erased five match points before Brittany Olson and Highbaugh finally finished off a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
“Alicia and Kyla stayed strong all year,” said Garringer. “The set scores weren’t real close, but they had a lot of games going to deuce. They’ll be back next year. I’m really happy about that. … They’ll be strong players.”
The only shutout for the night for Marion came from sophomore Ellen Hornett at No. 2 singles. She knocked off JCHS junior Jessica Ooten 6-0, 6-0.[[In-content Ad]]