Stars still on top

When it comes to conference matches, the Starfires keep winning.
And their height continues to be an advantage.
The South Adams High School volleyball team swept the Jay County Patriots on Tuesday, 25-20, 25-15, 25-17, holding its grip atop the Allen County Athletic Conference standings.
“It was a good team win,” said SAHS coach Ashley Buckingham, whose team moved to 15-5 on the year and 4-0 in ACAC play. Jay County, meanwhile, dropped to 10-8 on the season and 2-2 in ACAC action.
The next two matches for the Starfires, who are defending a sectional championship, are at conference and sectional foes Woodlan on Sept. 27 and home against Adams Central two days later.
“We are going to have to play our best volleyball yet to win the conference,” Buckingham said. “They’re going to come to try to knock us off. Those will be two big games and we are looking forward to them.”
But Tuesday, the Patriots struggled to contain the height and power of the Starfires. Junior hitter Madi Wurster had a match-high 16 kills, with Addie Wanner and Caralie Farlow both chipping in with eight. Wurster, a lefty and the tallest player on the court, often hit through and around the Patriot block attempts.
“Their size at the net was a big issue for us all night long,” Fred Medler, Jay County’s coach, said. “Our passing wasn’t very good, which caused our setters to have problems and so our hitters were having problems.”
The times the Patriots were able to attack, the Starfire defense was there to thwart most opportunities. Shania Neal and Morgan Alberson totaled 15 and 11 digs respectively, helping to get the ball to Julia Grabau to help set up the offense.
“She was kind of the unsung hero,” Buckingham said of Grabau, who totaled 30 assists. “When you have a bunch of bigger hitters everyone is always looking at the hit, but she is the one that delivered that ball.
“Without her we wouldn’t be as effective on offense as we were.”
Despite having trouble with Jade Farlow, Wurster and Wanner up front, the Patriots stayed right with the Starfires. All three sets were close a majority of the time. In the opener, Medler called a timeout with his team trailing 22-20, but consecutive aces from Wurster helped the visitors take the 1-0 match lead.
Jay County fell behind early in the second set, 6-2, but got as close as 13-12 thanks to kills from Abby Barcus, Britlyn Dues and Randi Ferguson. But a 7-1 run by South Adams shifted the momentum back to the Starfires.
Barcus and Dues shared the team high in kills with seven, and Kaelyn Weaver chipped in with five kills. Dues had seven digs, with Barcus and Ferguson tallying six each.