Jay to defend title against Winchester

The No. 2 doubles team of Abby Saxman and Abby Reier was pushed to a third set before completing a sweep for Jay County. Tonight, the duo hopes to help the Patriots to their third straight sectional title.
The host Jay County High School girls tennis team took its first step to defending its sectional title with a 5-0 victory Thursday over the Randolph Southern Rebels. The Patriots will host the sectional championship tonight as they take on the Winchester Golden Falcons at 5 p.m.
Winchester was victorious in its semifinal match, knocking off the Union City Indians 5-0.
JCHS (6-7) and the Rebels were no strangers as they already met up earlier this season with Jay County coming out on top 5-0 as well.
Kyra Braun in the No. 2 singles match came out firing and never looked back Thursday as she cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Coach Susan Garringer praised Braun and expects good things from her in tonight’s sectional championship.
“She’s a good player, she’s a strong player…. I look for her to win her match (tonight),” said Garringer.
In the No. 1 doubles match, seniors Faith Parr and Emily Westgerdes won their match 6-1, 6-0, as they dominated the net. They used Westgerdes’ height to put pressure on the much shorter Rebels.
The No. 2 doubles team of Abby Saxman and Abby Reier — also known as “Abby squared” — faltered a bit, dropping the second set before finishing strong and taking the third and final set 6-0. They won 6-3, 6-7, 6-0, taking a victory over Mikayla Barron and Makalya McClish of Randolph Southern.
“Both doubles teams are playing a solid net. The serving is strong, which is definitely a plus,” Garringer said.
Michelle Wellman cruised to an early one-set lead with a 6-0 victory over freshman Molly Hunt, but Hunt came fighting back in the second set and grabbed a 4-2 lead. Wellman dug deep and took the next four games to earn herself the match, 6-0, 6-4.
Randolph Southern’s Jasmine Thorne was able to break something in the No. 1 singles match, but it wasn’t Jessica Kerrigan’s serve.
In the first set, with Kerrigan leading 2-1, Thorne broke her racket on a forehand. Without a backup racket she was facing the possibility of a forfeit. Kerrigan, in an act of kindess, gave her own backup racket to her opponent so that Thorne was able to finish the match.
But Kerrigan’s kindness ended there as she continued to cruise to an easy vitory.
Kerrigan showed off a strong serve and relentless aggression as she took eight straight games to close out a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Randolph Southern’s season comes to an end, but coach Amy Hinshaw was pleased with what she saw out of her young team.
“They played very well,” Hinshaw said. “I had no seniors and two juniors.”
The doubles team of Barron and McClish, the only Rebels to win a set, had not even played tennis before this season.
“They’ve come a long way to play this well against a very good Jay County team.”
Jay County will look to win its third straight sectional title tonight as it takes on Winchester in a rematch of last year’s championship match, which Jay County won 3-2. The Patriots also beat Winchester 3-2 in the 2013 sectional semifinal match.
Garringer said she knew a rematch with the Golden Falcons was likely and told her players to be prepared.
“You’re going to have to be ready, just as you have improved this season other teams are going to improve as well,” Garringer told her team.