Union City tops Jay tennis

The Patriots were a few points away from swinging the match in their favor.
Then momentum slipped away.
Jay County High School’s boys tennis team dropped its match to sectional rival Union City on Monday, falling to the visiting Indians 3-2.
“I can’t say I’m totally disappointed in my team’s play today,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller, whose team played at home for the first time this season. “Do I absolutely think that Union City is a better team than us? I don’t think that is necessarily the case. But they are a good team. They earned it.
“They came here ready to win. They came here with the right mindset to win. They came here with the right mentality and they took it to us.”
Jay County (0-3) had a 2-1 advantage in matches thanks to wins from the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Luke Weaver and Kyler Hudson, as well as No. 3 singles player Conner Benter. With a loss at No. 2 doubles, Jay County had to win one of the final two singles matches to secure a team victory.
Both No. 1 singles player Garrett Rodgers and No. 2 singles player Payton Heniser dropped their first set and were on the verge of pushing their respective matches to a third. Heniser was a couple points away from tying the set at five games apiece, but unforced errors gave Zach Bradbury a 6-4 set and match victory after winning the opening set 6-2.
Rodgers was in a similar situation, dropping the first set 6-3 and falling behind early in the second. He rallied, just like Heniser, to get to 5-4 after nine games, but suffered the same fate as his classmate, falling to Trevor Spence 6-4 in the final set.
“The skills are there,” Miller said of his junior singles players. “They have the ability. They are good tennis players, but getting them to believe they are good tennis players right now seems to be the challenge that I have to address as a coach.
“Both of them were right in their second sets today. Their first set got away from them rather quickly. That is the thing, we just hope that confidence can carry over and they can play that way starting a match instead of towards the end of the match.”
At No. 1 doubles, Weaver and Hudson earned their first victory of the season as a team. The seniors had a comfortable 5-3 advantage in the opening set, but couldn’t break the serve of Chase Jefferis to secure the set victory.
With the 10th game tied at 15, back-to-back Union City errors and an ace from Hudson gave the Patriots the set.
Then they cruised to victory, defeating Jacob Folk and Jefferis 6-0 in the second set.
“It means a lot for those boys,” Miller said. “Getting that win against these guys, that is going to help because you look at what the rest of the team did on a night like tonight and you look at what they did on a night like tonight and that stands out.”
Miller noted that, if Hudson and Weaver continue to play the strong tennis they did Monday, they should have a chance to get through sectional and advance to regional.
JCHS sophomore Conner Benter earned his second victory of the season, defeating Elijah Thornburg 6-4, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
“I believe his win on Saturday (in the DeKalb Invitational) was a help for him today,” Miller said. “He was down early in his first set then he managed to fight his way back and win the set relatively easy.
“The second set was just confidence. He is starting to believe in himself. He is starting to trust in his shots.”
Benter was stellar at simply returning a playable ball to Thornburg, forcing the Union City senior into being the one to make mistakes. Consecutive unforced errors ended the first set, and Thornburg had shots sail wide or deep on the court to start the second set.
“It’s good for this year, it’s good for the future, it’s good for Conner and he played a great match today,” Miller said.
The Patriots’ No. 2 doubles team of sophomores Ben Muhlenkamp and Xavier Ninde are still searching for their first varsity win. They lost to Gabe Loesch and Jacob Bradbury 6-1, 6-4.
Jay County freshman Sheldon Upp split a pair of two junior varsity matches. He lost to John Carpenter 6-3, and defeated Tanner Spence 6-4.