Over in the opener

FORT WAYNE — For the better part of two sets, the Cadets weren’t able to build much of a lead.
The Patriots were even ahead on the scoreboard a few times.
But a few too many errors, including one on match point, marked the end of the season for the Patriots.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team lost in three sets Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 4A Sectional 6 tournament at Fort Wayne South Side.
The Concordia Cadets, ranked ninth in the state and the 2014 Class 3A state champions, beat Jay County 25-19, 25-19, 25-16.
“Too many errors period, but too many errors at crucial times,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team ended its year with a 27-6 record and having lost three of its final six matches. “Game one we missed way too many serves, but we were right there. Game two we didn’t miss quite as many serves, but key serves. Then we started missing attacks.
“Last game we kept giving them the ball and letting them stay in system. They’re good when they are in system.”
Concordia, which advances to the sectional semifinal at 11 a.m. Saturday against the Wayne Generals, had a four-point lead on three different occasions during the first set, but Jay County either cut it in half or got to within one each time.
Trailing 14-10, back-to-back errors by the Cadets, an ace from senior Kylie Osborne and a Kunkler block tied the game at 14.
Concordia coach Tricia Miller called a timeout, and out of the break a tip by Kunkler gave Jay County its first lead of the evening. The Patriots were ahead again 17-16. Three consecutive service errors and a kill from Erica Shively kept the Cadets in the lead, and six straight points gave them the win in the first set.
“We just couldn’t finish it out,” Medler said. “We had the lead quite a way through the game. Instead of extending that lead we found a way to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
In the second set, Jay County had a two-point lead, 8-6, until back-to-back kills from Natalie Kosnik and a pair of Jay County mishaps gave Concordia a 10-8 advantage.
Kosnik had 10 kills as the lone Cadet player to reach double figures.
After the Patriots tied the score at 10, a 4-0 run put the Cadets on top. Jay County closed to within one — 15-14, 18-17 and again at 19-18 — before a four-point swing gave Concordia a 23-1 lead.
Two points later, Kylie Osborne, Britlyn Dues and Abby Barcus teamed to chase down a ball outside the court, and as the ball got to the net Shivley one-touched it to the left side of the court vacated by the Patriots.
“Their defense is maybe the best defense we’ve seen all year,” Miller said. “They just scrapped everything up. I was impressed.”
All eight players who saw the court for Jay County notched at least one dig. The Patriots totaled 43 as a team.
A block and back-to-back kills from Barcus helped Jay County to a 5-4 lead in the third set, but a service error — the Patriots had nine total — sparked a five-point run for the Cadets. Jay County wasn’t able to get back within two points for the remainder of the match.
Barcus, a junior, led all players with 18 kills. She also had 10 digs, sharing the team high with Abby Wendel, who was second on the team with seven kills. Kunkler added six kills and Osborne tallied four.
“I think we started executing a little bit,” Miller said of the third set. “Their passing broke down a little bit. Maybe we were serving a little tougher, trying to hit gaps.”
And Medler knew that letting Concordia get into a groove offensively would lead to the Patriots’ demise.
“They are big enough anyway we can’t let them be in system,” he said. “We have to do what we can do to make them be out of system, and that last game it wasn’t there.
“It’s just the way it is.”