Starfire tennis sweeps Patriots

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The Starfires had the conference championship slip away last season with a loss to the Jets.

Before the rematch on Thursday, they had to get through the Patriots first.

The hosts put up little fight.

South Adams High School’s girls tennis team picked up its fifth straight victory on Monday, sweeping the Jay County Patriots 5-0.

“Our team, they are playing really good,” said SAHS coach Josh Zurcher, whose team continues Allen County Athletic Conference play at home Tuesday against Bluffton ahead of Thursday’s showdown with Adams Central. “They have a lot of confidence.”

In fact, it’s a word Zurcher used four times when speaking of his team, which is led by its doubles teams.

Carlie Farlow and Julia Grabau of South Adams (7-1, 1-0 ACAC) won their match at No. 1 doubles 6-2, 6-2 over cousins Audrey and Kayla Dirksen. They alternated wins throughout the first four games, with Farlow and Grabau — they moved to 9-2 on the year — grabbing victories in games one and three.

But just as the Dirksens used their serve to tie the opening set at two games apiece, their momentum stopped there. Farlow and Grabau won the next four to take the opening set, and rode the wave into a victory in the second set as well.

“They played together a big part of last year so they’ve got a lot of continuity there,” Zurcher said. “That helps with them.”

At No. 2 doubles, Breanna Potts and Sydney Pierce defeated Emily Reier and Betsy Muhlenkamp 6-2, 6-1. They too improved to 9-2, and Zurcher said the first-year partners continue to learn playing with one another and have improved as the season has gone on.

“The doubles is definitely the strength of our team,” Zurcher said. “They are playing really well together.”

Shelby McClain, Jay County’s No. 1 singles player, took the sixth game against Haley Gerber to tie the opening set at three games apiece, but she was unable to get over the hump and take control of the match. Gerber nabbed a 4-3 advantage before splitting the next two games and eventually winning the opening set. She proceeded to cruise to a 6-0 victory in the second set, moving to 5-5 on the year.

The solid finish was because of the confidence she gained after closing out the opening set.

“That second set, I think once she got the first set that got her a lot of momentum,” Zurcher said.

At No. 3 singles, SAHS junior and first-year varsity player Hannah Dull was ahead 4-0 in the first set against Francine Muhlenkamp, who rallied but eventually lost 6-3. Dull (6-4) nabbed set two 6-1 for the victory.

“Every match she is getting better,” Zurcher said. “She is another one, just trying to get confidence every match. We’re seeing improved play out of her every match.”

Jay County senior Megan Johnson beat Virginia Lagos 6-3 in the first set. She dropped five straight games in set two before finally getting on the board with a victory in the sixth game. Johnson and Lagos went back-and-forth in the seventh game, before a double fault gave Lagos the set. She carried that momentum to a 6-2 win in the decisive third set for the match victory, completing the Starfire sweep.

“The second set we had a talk and she just came out with a different attitude,” Zurcher said. “You could tell in her style of play that she had more confidence in the second set.”

And just as confidence helped the Starfires beat the Patriots rather handily, Zurcher is hoping it can continue the rest of the week, especially Thursday against the Jets.

“It is going to be a tough match,” he said. “I don’t know how we’re going to pull it out. I’m hoping to keep it competitive. As long as we can keep it close anything can happen.”