Patriot spikers beat Bears (09/12/2008)

With a week off, the Jay County High School volleyball team spent some time tinkering with its lineup. In game three Thursday, the Patriots found one that worked well.

The Patriots battered the visiting Monroe Central Golden Bears in the third game to finish off a 25-20, 25-23, 25-12 victory.

"We worked on some lineup switches to try to get some people in some different spots," said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team is now 6-6. "In game three we went to the lineup we've been using most of the year, with a few tweaks in it, and that worked a whole lot better. ... That's pretty much the difference tonight."

Jay County led off the third game with a Kelsey Wood kill and then got five straight service points from senior Kristi Morningstar. Another run, this time 5-0, with Chelsea Grady serving pushed the Patriots to an 11-1 lead.

Monroe Central never pulled closer than seven points the rest of the way, and Lindsey Current finished off the match with a kill off the arms of Katie Walker.

Grady, who shifted to libero for the third game, racked up team highs of 13 digs and 11 points. Sara Westgerdes had 10 kills, and Amy "Sug" Alig and Kelsey Wood each had eight kills.

"We got a lot of kills out of Gerdes. She's relaxing again. ... I think it mentally got to her that she wasn't playing well coming back off that rolled ankle. I told her, 'The game will come to you. You've just got to relax and let it come to you.' ...

"Wood is back ... We weren't getting her some great sets, and tonight we got her some swings ...

"Sug has been playing a ton all year long. She's just playing very, very well."

Morningstar finished with 10 assists and seven points, Liz Walker put up nine assists and Kelci Reed totaled seven digs.

Junior varsity

Tanner Martin totaled 12 points and six assists to lead Jay County to a 25-5, 25-14 victory over the Golden Bears.

Alyssa Rigby also scored 12 points, and Becky Muhlenkamp added six kills and four points. Randa Gillespie also had four digs, and Maria Murphy notched three kills.[[In-content Ad]]