Patriot girls rally yet again

OSSIAN — For the third straight game the Patriots trailed at halftime.

They dug out of the hole one more time.

Hannah Phillips and Kendra Muhlenkamp had second-half goals Thursday, powering the Jay County High School girls soccer team to a 2-1 win over the host Norwell Knights on Tuesday. 

It was the fifth goal of the season for Phillips, who trails only Muhlenkamp’s 15 as the latter chases the school record for goals in a career (63). She is 13 away from tying the mark.

Shelby Caldwell made seven saves for the Patriots, who host Oak Hill on Thursday.

Tennis blanked

MARION — The Jay County boys tennis team lost 5-0 to the Marion Giants on Thursday.

Xavier Ninde had the best performance in a defeat, dropping his No. 1 singles match 6-2, 6-1 to Noah Lyons.

At No. 3 singles, Gabe Blankenship fell to Brady Buckler at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Conner Benter dropped his No. 2 singles match to Vikram Oddiraju 6-0, 6-0.

Crosby Heniser and Sheldon Upp lost to Jack Fauser and Jonathon Walts 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Gavin Randall and Christian Romero fell 6-0, 6-0.

Raiders beat Jay

Jay County’s volleyball team lost to sectional rival Wapahani Raiders on Thursday, 25-22, 25-16, 25-20.

The Raiders were ranked fourth in the Class 3A preseason coaches poll.

Hallie Fields led Jay County (8-4) with six kills. Olivia Kunkler, Alana Kunkler and Madison Dirksen all had four kills and Natalie Miles chipped in three.

Kailee Denney contributed 13 assists, Maggie Pryor recorded 20 assists and Sara Hemmelgarn notched four blocks.

Jay County’s junior varsity team also lost, 25-13, 25-19.

Hanna Muhlenkamp, Lily Hedges and Pacie Denney each had two kills.

East Jay sweeps meet

The East Jay Middle School boys and girls cross country teams swept a meet with Bluffton and West Jay on Thursday at Hudson Family Park.

The Chief girls totaled 27 points, edging Bluffton by one point. West Jay totaled 85.

East Jay’s boys scored 17, while Bluffton (49) was second and West Jay (80) placed third.



Lydia Keihn won the girls race in 13 minutes, 24 seconds, finishing ahead of teammate Mara Bader. Natalie Carreno (sixth), Mallory Winner (eighth) and Emily Manor (10th) also scored for the Chiefs.

Haley Ayala of West Jay was the top Eagle runner as she was 15th. Sarah McClain, Emma Outcalt, Zoe Hammers and Lucy Raines were 16th through 19th.

Thomas LeMaster led the EJ boys by winning with a time of 12:22. Cameron Clark (second), Sebastian Solis (third), Tony Wood (fifth) and Sheldon Minch (sixth) also scored for the Chiefs.

West Jay’s Skyler Bee finished 10th. Lukes Powers, Aidan Stevens, Caleb Dollar and Jason Ayala were 15th through 18th. 

Chiefs split

East Jay’s volleyball teams split with Winchester Driver on Thursday.

The seventh graders moved to 2-0 with a 25-4, 25-11 victory, and the eighth graders lost 22-25, 25-16, 15-11.

Maggie Dillon and Sophie Saxman had the only two kills for the seventh grade squad. Brenna Haines tallied a dozen aces on her way to a dozen service points. Kenzie Landon and Riah Champ both had four points.

Renna Schwieterman led the eighth graders with four aces and three kills. She also had eight service points. Natalie Wehrly totaled 11 digs.