Patriot spikers win invitational

The Jay County High School volleyball team picked up three wins Saturday on the way to winning its Patriot Invitational.
The Patriots beat the Frankton Eagles 25-12, 25-19 and the Carroll Cougars 25-11, 25-15 before defeating the Union City Indians 25-8, 25-13 to lock up their third tournament championship of the season.
“The competition wasn’t as strong, but we were strong,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team improved to 22-5 on the season to surpass the 20-win mark for the first time since 2001. “We have to take care of our side of the net. We have to play to our capabilities and not worry about who’s on the other side of the net.”
JCHS sophomore Abby Barcus was the focal point of the Patriot offense, racking up double-digit kill totals in all three matches. She finished with 32 for the tournament, and also added 3.5 blocks on defense.
“Our offense was really clicking, and Barcus was on,” Medler said. “Today we were passing it, controlling our serve reception part of the day, and when you do that it lets you run your offense.”
Kylie Osborne had 15 kills and a team-high 13 digs, and Abby Wendel tallied nine kills. Sophomore setter Lizzy Schoenlein totaled 66 assists on the day, and added 11 digs along with Wendel and Barcus.
Ava Kunkler notched eight kills, eight digs and three blocks, and Bre McIntire and Osborne both had six aces.
Medler had 10 different players see time on the court Saturday, putting them in positions they may not normally see. The versatility, he said, gives the Patriots depth as they prepare for a run in the Allen County Athletic Conference and sectional tournaments.
His team will open the ACAC tournament against Southern Wells at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Heritage.
“Being able to mix and match and move around just gets us to the point that if somebody would happen to go down in a match, we’re ready.”

Junior varsity
Like their varsity counterparts, the Jay County junior varsity team also cruised to a tournament championship.
The Patriots defeated Frankton 25-12, 25-12, beat Kokomo 25-20, 25-18 and downed Union City 25-10, 25-11 to win their second invitational of the season.
Audrey Shreve paved the way for the Jay County offense, notching 18 kills on the day. Britlyn Dues followed with 12 kills, and Kaelyn Weaver tallied nine.
Alli Campbell and Abby Muhlenkamp both had six digs, and Campbell totaled 41 assists. Kady Finnerty and Weaver shared the team lead with five aces, and Weaver also had a team-high four blocks.
Katie Lyons tallied 10 assists, Hanna Ault had seven kills and Emilie Walter notched two blocks.

Middle school
East Jay’s eighth grade squad went 3-0 Saturday to win the six-team tournament at JCHS.
The Chiefs picked up wins against South Adams, Adams Central and West Jay on the way to the title.
East Jay’s seventh graders went 2-1 to finish third.
Hannah Phillips led the EJMS eighth graders with 33 points from the service line, and Olivia Kunkler notched 18 points.
Sarah Walter had a team-high 15 kills on the day, and Kunkler added 12. Kailee Denney served the Chiefs to 13 points and had 22 assists.
For the EJMS seventh graders, Elyse Bost had team-highs in points (26), aces (10) and kills (15).