Seniors sink Southern Wells

The seniors set the tone.
The rest of the squad put away the Raiders.
All five seniors started the match, helping Jay County High School’s volleyball team treat its seniors to a sweep in their final time on the court Tuesday, defeating the Southern Wells Raiders 25-19, 25-19, 25-7.
“Actually it was pretty cool,” Britlyn Dues, a senior, said of being on the court at the same time with her four classmates. “It was awesome to start my last home game with all the girls I have played with since sixth grade.”
All five seniors — Abby Barcus, Katie Lyons, Abby Muhlenkamp, Audrey Shreve and Dues — are rarely on the court at the same time, but JCHS coach Fred Medler didn’t hesitate to include them in the starting lineup.
“It was nice to be able to do that for them,” he said. “I’m not opposed, and I’m not scared to put anybody out there on the floor at any time."
The seniors combined for 26 of the 33 kills for Jay County (12-8, 3-2 Allen County Athletic Conference). Barcus led all players with a dozen kills, Dues was second with eight and Shreve added five. Lyons also had a team-high 11 assists, with Barcus and Muhlenkamp sharing the team lead with four digs.
“It was a good night for them,” Medler said. “I was happy we were able to do that.”
Along with sophomore Kendal Garringer, the Patriots had a difficult time taking a clear advantage early on. A three-point run by Southern Wells (4-23, 0-5 ACAC) gave the Raiders a brief 12-10 advantage in the first set, but the Patriots returned the favor — and then some — to take a 16-13 advantage. During the run, Dues had two kills and the Raiders had two attacking errors.
“Early in game one we didn’t serve totally well like we’re capable,” Medler said.
In the second set, however, Kailee Denney, Muhlenkamp and Lyons were able to string some serves together. Lyons’ four-point run helped put the middle set out of reach 24-18 after the Raiders battled back with six consecutive points to make it 18-17 moments earlier.
With more of its main lineup on the court during the third set, Jay County simply overpowered the undermanned Raiders. Kaelyn Weaver had a pair of kills and a block, Barcus served six consecutive points, including three straight aces, and Olivia Kunkler followed with back-to-back aces and a six-point run of her own.
The third and final set is also when the Patriot defense also disrupted the Raiders’ attack. Dues came up with a solo block that started Barcus’ streak, then repeated the feat to send Kunkler to the service line as she and Barucs teamed for a 12-1 run.
“(Dues) had a few blocks there and took them one-on-one,” said Medler, whose team travels to Monroeville on Thursday to take on the Heritage Patriots before hosting the Patriot Invitational on Saturday. “That was good to see. She read it well. She got in the right spot and got up at the right time.”
Dues finished with three blocks.
“There were some others but (Dues) especially stands out in my mind of blocking a few balls at times that kept them from getting in any kind of run.”

Junior varsity
Like its varsity counterparts, Jay County took care of business in a 25-16, 25-10 sweep of Southern Wells.
Hallie Fields led the Patriots with five kills, while Sarah Hemmelgarn, Hanna Dillon and Macey Weitzel added four apiece.
Maggie Pryor was 11-for-12 with four aces from the service line, and she also had five digs. Emma James tallied nine assists.