Comeback falls short

FORT WAYNE — Homestead’s Cassidy Geller was just trying to get the ball over the net.
The Spartan senior did just that, but the line judge signaled that the ball crossed outside the antenna resulting in a point for Jay County, giving it a 12-10 lead in the fifth and final game.
Homestead argued the call, the net officials convened and overturned the ruling, called for the point to be replayed. The Spartans went on to get the next five points, holding off the Patriots to win 25-20, 25-18, 14-25, 22-15, 15-10 on Thursday in the opening round of the Class 4A Sectional 6 tournament at Fort Wayne South Side.
“A licensed official made the call immediately,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team battled back after dropping the first two games to the Spartans. “It wasn’t like he guessed and waited. It was immediately (that) his flag went up. You don’t overrule that.
“I think it’s an unfortunate choice for the down official to go ahead and make that.”
Medler added he was just happy his team was able to get to a fifth game.
Mental mistakes proved costly for Jay County (23-8) in the first two sets as the Spartans had early leads in both, 5-2 and 6-2 respectively.
Homestead (25-5) scored six straight points in the opening set to lead 11-4, thanks to two of Abby Moore’s three aces. The Spartans took three of the next five points before Jay County went on a four-point run of its own to get within five, 15-10.
But the Patriots were unable to hold on to their serve as they only managed to score consecutive points three more times in the set, losing 25-20.
“We were nervous,” Medler said of the opening two sets. “We weren’t doing what we intended to do and we were taking ourselves out of spots on the floor where we should have had defensive players.
“We just kept making blunders after blunders … not being in the right spot, not tipping where we wanted to tip and not hitting where we wanted to hit.”
With their backs against the wall, the Patriots turned the tide.
Jay County’s offense started clicking, its defense was in position and the scoreboard reflected the change.
Neither team was able to take control early on in the third set, but the Patriots held an 8-6 advantage. After a Homestead service error, JCHS scored four straight points, including back-to-back kills from senior Bre McIntire. The two teams traded the next four points to make it 15-10 until Abby Barcus put the set out of reach.
The Patriot sophomore notched three of her match-high 17 kills as Jay County took the third set, 25-14.
Barcus tallied four more kills and two of her team-high four aces in the next set. The Patriots had three runs of at least four points and led by as many as five points on two separate occasions, taking the set 25-22 and sending the match into the fifth.
Meanwhile, the Jay County defense, led by Abby Wendel’s 20 digs, was in the right spots and limited the Homestead offense.
By doing so, the Patriots extended points and set up their attack by catching the Spartan defense out of system.
Sophomore Lizzy Schoenlein totaled 17 digs, Ava Kunkler and Barcus both had a dozen, and McIntire chipped in with 10 as five players reached double-digits.
Kylie Osborne finished with 13 kills, and Wendel and Kunkler each had 10.
“It was almost flip-flop,” said Homestead coach Kent Mitchell, whose team advances to the second semifinal Saturday against Wayne. “We really controlled the first two games and then the next two games (Jay County) controlled.
“That fifth game was anybody’s game.”
Medler called a timeout with his team trailing 6-4 in that deciding game, and back-to-back kills by Wendel and Barcus sparked yet another four-point swing by Jay County. Homestead took four of the next five points to lead 10-9. The Patriots then reclaimed the lead 11-10, setting up the controversial call.
The overturned ruling, Medler said, took a little wind out of the Patriots’ sails.
“We still could have had time to recover,” said Medler, whose team lost the sectional championship to Homestead in three games last season. “There were four plays after (and) we didn’t respond to those four plays very well.
“That’s just the way it goes. It’s unfortunate the way it bounced, but that’s the game of volleyball.”