South Adams wins ACAC opener

BERNE — The Starfires play all three of their conference opponents in a span of three days.
To reach their goal of an Allen County Athletic Conference championship, they had to get past the Patriots first.
The South Adams High School girls tennis fought gusty winds in their ACAC opener, defeating Jay County 4-1 on Monday night.
“I think they handled the wind well today,” said SAHS coach Kyle Sprunger, whose team is on the road at Bluffton tonight and Adams Central on Wednesday. “That is definitely something we haven’t seen this spring much. Took some adjusting, but they did a fine job.”
The top doubles team for South Adams (5-2, 1-0 ACAC), seniors Riley Liechty and Kylea Pierce, used the wind to their advantage against JCHS seniors Abby Saxman and Abby Reier. The Starfire duo often had the wind make their first serves break more than usual. They won, 6-3, 6-4.
“Having two seniors, they’ve gone through so much,” Sprunger said. “They rely on their spin to break through the wind instead of just trying to hit the ball hard.”
Pierce and Liechty used strong net play too, often hitting down the middle of the court when it wasn’t covered by the Patriot seniors.
South Adams swept the doubles matches, as Julia Grabau and Caralie Farlow defeated Audrey Dirksen and Kayla Dirksen 6-0, 6-1.
Jay County coach Susan Garringer said she was disappointed in the way the doubles teams played.
“They are just not getting their game together,” she said. “Too much standing around and not enough good footwork moving into the ball. When you’re playing in the wind that’s double trouble.”
South Adams got its other victories from its No. 1 and No. 3 singles players. Haley Gerber defeated Megan Johnson 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, and Brittany Potts fought off Kyra Braun 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
Braun didn’t seem fazed by Potts’ strong serve, and used strong net play to keep the first set close early on. Braun trailed 4-3 before tying the opening set at four games apiece.
“Kyra played an impressive match,” Garringer said. “Could have gone either way. She used a variety of approach shots. She was strong with service return even though her opponent had a very tough serve.”
Potts cruised to an early lead in the second set, but ran out of steam and Braun came soaring back to trail 5-4. But the Starfire won the next game to take the set and match.
“It was big for her,” Sprunger said. “She struggled with some energy level. She knows she has to go out there and do her job. Props to (Braun), she definitely pushed her. Some of Brittany’s stronger shots, she made them look not very strong.”
The only victory for Jay County (1-4, 0-2 ACAC) came from Shelby McClain at No. 2 singles. The sophomore defeated Breanna Potts 6-2, 6-0, and said afterward that neither she nor Potts played well.
Her coach thought differently.
“Shelby played excellent tennis,” Garringer said. “She was placing the ball really well, hitting the ball deep, and she could consistently do that even in the wind.”
With one conference victory out of the way, Sprunger said it is up to his players to keep the momentum going into the next two matches.
“Hopefully they realize how special they can be,” he said. “With our seniors, hopefully they realize this is their time and they take advantage of it.”
Jay County, which is three-time defending sectional champion, turns its focus to sectional rival Union City tonight. It is the second of three meetings against sectional foes — the Patriots lost to Winchester 5-0 and host Randolph Southern on May 10.
“I think (it) will be a good match,” Garringer said of the Patriots’ meeting with Union City. “It will be nice to look at them before we go into sectional.”