Patriots halted at regional

MARION — Jay County High School junior Kyra Braun knew what to expect in her regional tennis matchup against Sam Hammel.
The Pendleton Heights sophomore defeated her 6-0, 6-2 in regional last season.
So when the two squared off against one another Wednesday at Marion, Braun used her experience from last year to calm her nerves.
She lost to Hammel 6-1, 6-3, but it was a vast improvement from her match last season.
“Kyra stuck with her and she stayed to her game,” said JCHS coach Susan Garringer, whose team lost 5-0 to the Arabians in the regional semifinal. It is the third straight season Jay County was shut out at regional. “Kyra didn’t back off. She stayed with her own game, still made it to the net and still made some spectacular shots.
“(Hammel) was strong and very consistent.”
Having played Hammel last season — Pendleton Heights returned all seven of its players from last year’s regional team — Braun was able to calm her nerves before the match.
“I know she’s a strong player,” Braun said. “I knew what I was going to go up against so that made me a little less nervous.”
Braun dropped the first set 6-1 and was in a quick 3-0 hole in the second set. At that point, she said she had one thought going through her mind.
“I just didn’t want to be done,” she said. “It kind of motivated me a little bit to not think about trying to get it in, just trying to make a shot.”
The junior won the fourth game, battling with Hammel to deuce five times. But Hammel took the next two for a 5-1 lead.
So Braun continued to battle, winning back-to-back games to trail 5-3. Hammel won the first two points of the ninth game, thanks to an unforced error and a drop shot just out of Braun’s reach.
The JCHS junior battled back, taking the next two points to tie the game at 30-all. Her return on Hammel’s next serve went long, and Hammel hit an ace to the back corner for match point.
At No. 2 doubles, Jay County juniors Abby Saxman and Abby Reier lost to Brandy Stoker and Haley Augsberger, 6-2, 6-1. The Arabian juniors got up 5-0 in the first set, until the Abbys took the next two games, battling back and forth at deuce multiple times.
With Reier on the serve, Saxman hit Stoker’s return down the middle of the court to take the sixth game, which reached deuce four times.
The Jay County duo broke Stoker’s serve to take game seven, and after trailing 30-love in the eighth game, the Patriot tandem forced deuce — neither team was able to close it out as it the game hit deuce again four times — until back-to-back Patriot mistakes gave Pendleton Heights the opening set.

“They played well,” Garringer said. “Obviously the other team had a lot more experience than Abby and Abby — this is their first year on varsity.”
Last season, Stoker and Augsburger defeated Jay County’s Emily Westgerdes and Faith Parr at No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-3. This time around, Parr and Westgerdes lost by the same score at No. 1 singles but to twins Audrey and Kayleigh Corn.
Jay County’s top doubles combo won back-to-back games to get within one game in the second set, 4-3, but lost the final two for the fifth and final Patriot loss on the day.
At No. 1 singles, JCHS senior Jessica Kerrigan lost to Emma McCardwell 6-0, 6-0. McCardwell beat Kerrigan by the same score last year.
At No. 3 singles, Jay County’s Michelle Wellman fell 6-0, 6-0 to Carly Wilson.
“(McCardwell) was really strong,” Garringer said. “Even though (Kerrigan) hits a really nice tennis ball — she hits it deep in the court, she hits to the corners — so did her opponent.”