Patriot spikers upset top-ranked Raiders

SELMA — The Patriots dropped the first set against the Raiders on Thursday.
The visitors didn’t lose again.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team upset the Class 2A No. 1 Wapahani Raiders on its home court, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.
“We beat them last year and maybe we weren’t better than them,” JCHS coach Fred Medler said this morning. His team upset Wapahani last season when the Raiders were ranked No. 7 in Class 3A. “This year we were better than them.”
While Wapahani (6-1) was without its standout Skylar Van Note — the sophomore went down with an ankle injury Tuesday — the Patriots (8-1) were one day closer to being completely healthy.
Junior Abby Barcus, who herself has been nursing an ankle injury, had a team-high 18 kills to lead the Patriots’ offense.
“That’s a big night, especially on a tender foot,” Medler said.
Jay County made a number of serving mistakes in the first set, which gave the previously unbeaten Wapahani squad a 25-20 victory.
The Patriots cleaned up those mistakes in game two, but still trailed 12-8 early in the second set. That’s when the offense started to come together, exploiting a hole in the middle of the Wapahani defense.
“They play a three-person defense and guard the lines pretty hard,” Medler added. “We started hitting the soft middle and did that frequently.
“They weren’t able to react.”
Seniors Ava Kunkler and Kylie Osborne joined Barcus with double-digit kill totals. Kunkler tallied a dozen while Osborne recorded 11. Abby Wendel was one away from reaching double figures, but she made her presence known on the defensive side of the court.
Wendel, who too has been banged up, totaled 21 digs. No other Patriot had more than six.
“That’s the one advantage she has over anyone on our team,” Medler said. “She just reads and reacts to the game. She has a natural instinct.
“She’ll be in one spot on the court, the other team gets ready to put the ball to a spot and then she’s somewhere else.
“She does that better than anybody we’ve got. That’s one of the reasons why we have to leave her on the court.”
Setter Lizzy Schoenlein was at her best during the Patriots’ biggest match so far this season. The junior assisted on 47 of Jay County’s 56 kills.
The Patriots return home Tuesday for an Allen County Athletic Conference tilt against the Bluffton Tigers at 6 p.m. Jay County hits the road Thursday for another ACAC match against the Woodlan Warriors. The Patriots beat both squads in 2014.

Junior varsity
The Raiders had the upper hand in a 25-19, 25-21 victory against Jay County.
Audrey Shreve led the Patriots (6-3) with five kills. Kaylee Denney had four kills to go with her team-high eight assists, and Hanna Ault tallied three kills. Kendal Garringer and Hannah Dillon both had two aces, as Garringer was a perfect 10-for-10 from the service line.
Alayna Aparicio recorded six digs.