Patriots slam Winchester (09/30/2008)

The Patriots have found their stride.

Jay County High School's volleyball team stayed in control most of the way Monday, handing the visiting Winchester Golden Falcons a 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 defeat.

JCHS is now 10-11 overall, and is 5-3 in its last eight matches. And even in those recent defeats - it fell in three games to Franklin Central and Connersville in tournament action and in four games against Class 1A No. 4 Wes-Del - there have been plenty of bright spots.

"It was another solid match for us," said Patriot coach Fred Medler. "We've had several solid matches in a row. ... We've had lots of different people who are just stepping in ... the pieces are all falling into place and the kids are just steadily taking another step up the ladder and getting better ... We hope it just continues from here."

Each of Monday's three games was close early, but Jay County took control around the 10-point mark in each and never gave the lead back.

Game one was tied at 11 before Winchester's Morgan Stohler hit her serve into the net and the Patriots led the rest of the way. The second game was tied at eight, and then a Sarah Westgerdes block of Danielle Green gave JCHS the lead for good.

And with game three locked in a tie at 11, Kristi Morningstar took over the match.

After getting help from an Amy Alig block and an attack error by the Golden Falcons (7-12), Morningstar did most of the work by herself. She smacked three consecutive aces and added a fourth later as she served the Patriots to an 18-11 advantage.

Morningstar finished with nine points, seven of which came on aces. She also had five assists.

"She just said, 'I'm going to take them off the court,'" said Medler of Morningstar's service run. "And that's that next person stepping up, picking their teammates up and playing tough."

Jay County pushed to a 24-16 lead before Winchester (7-12) scored five straight. But Westgerdes nailed down her 10th kill of the match on the next point to complete the win.

The senior also had three blocks, sharing the team high with Alig.

"She's seeing the ball a whole lot better in the block," said Medler. "Earlier in the year she was just throwing her arms up ... And now she sees what's happening and sees the ball. She's reaching for the ball and taking an area away ... She's seeing the ball a whole, whole lot better."

The Patriots took advantage of Winchester mistakes to open their lead in the first game. In game two the Patriots' 6-0 run included blocks by Westgerdes and Alig and a kill from Mariah Hornaday. Kelci Reed capped the rally with an ace.

Chelsea Grady finished with team highs for 17 digs and nine points, and Kelsey Wood had seven digs and six kills.

Winchester coach Julie Smiley said she just didn't see the same kind of fire her team showed in the Randolph County Tournament Saturday.

"They always just go in wanting to kill Randolph Southern," said Smiley. "I asked them during one of our time outs, 'Why don't you want to beat Jay County the way you wanted to beat Randolph Southern?'

They need to go in with that same desire. And they just didn't have it tonight."

Stephanie Getting led Winchester with 10 assists and seven digs.

Erin Lewis had 16 digs, Sarah Hamm totaled 10 blocks and Megan Culy finished with five kills.

Junior varsity

Jay County improved to 7-5 with a 20-25, 25-15 victory over the Golden Falcons.

The teams were tied at nine in the second game before the Patriots pulled out to a 14-10 lead. Winchester tried to stop the run with a timeout, but Megan May added three more service points to push the advantage to seven.

Jay County stayed in control, with Sierra Weatherhead and Becky Muhlenkamp getting the final two kills to complete the win.

Taylor Burris paced the Patriots with seven points and five kills. Kassi Hemmelgarn had seven assists and five digs, and May added six points and four digs.

Maria Murphy totaled six kills and three blocks, and Muhlenkamp had six points.

Freshman

The Patriots (3-2) dropped their opening match as they hosted tournament action Saturday, but bounced back for consecutive wins.

JCHS fell 25-11, 20-25, 15-11 to Adams Central in its first match. After dropping the opening game against Eastbrook it came back for a 20-25, 25-16, 15-11 victory and then topped Marion 25-8, 25-8.

Kassi Hemmelgarn led the victory over Marion with 16 points and 10 assists. Taylor Burris had six kills, and Jen Dirksen and Alyssa Rigby each totaled five digs.

Burris had 11 points and six kills in the victory over Eastbrook. Alyssa Rigby had nine digs, Hemmelgarn put up eight assists and Maria Murphy notched eight kills.

Rigby had 11 digs and seven points in the loss to Adams Central. Hemmelgarn scored 10 points, Tanner Martin had seven assists and Burris totaled six kills.

Middle school

East Jay Middle School's sixth grade team won 25-5, 25-21 in the A team match Monday and took the B team match 25-15, 25-19.

Michelle Wellman had 16 points, including five aces, to lead the Chiefs (8-2), and Jessica Kerrigan added eight points and four aces. Emily Westgerdes totaled five kills, Malarie Houck had five assists and Catherine Dunn and Larissa Boles each added four digs.

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