Patriot spikers win invitational

LIBERTY — Jay County’s volleyball team went undefeated on Saturday to claim the Union County Invitational championship.

The Patriots (14-14) defeated Lawrenceburg (25-20, 25-23), Northeastern (25-21, 23-25, 15-11) and Alexandria-Monroe (25-22, 25-20) during pool play before topping Adams Central (25-20, 13-25, 15-9) to claim the championship.

Izzy Rodgers was on fire from the service line, leading the Patriots with 22 points on 40-of-41 serving. She was tied for second with Grace Brewster with four aces, and also tallied 56 assists.

Madison Dirksen led the offense with 33 kills, while Abbie Fields posted 22 kills while also leading the team with eight blocks. Madison Brunswick chipped in 14 kills.

Brenna Haines tallied 62 digs, with Brewster (29) and Rodgers (28) and Hannah Muhlenkamp (27) contributing 20 or more digs as well.

Jay County opens sectional play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Norwell at Bellmont.



FR girls fourth

COLDWATER, Ohio — Two runners placed in the top 20 as the Fort Recovery High School girls cross country team finished fourth in the Coldwater Lions Invitational on Saturday.

Fort Loramie scored 85 points for the win, as Shawnee (109) took second and Versailles (136) placed third. The Indians scored 140 points.

Fort Loramie’s boys made it a sweep with 76 points, 10 ahead of Holgate. Archbishop Moeller placed third with 91. Fort Recovery was 17th with a score of 422.

Ellie Will paced the FRHS girls by finishing 11th in 21 minutes, 3.04 seconds, while Jenna Hart finished 14th in 21:11.13. Alexis Wendel had a time of 21:51.46 for 32nd, Joelle Kaup ended in 22:20.16 for 41st and Megan Diller turned in a time of 22:28.93 for 47th.

Trevor Heitkamp was the top FRHS boy as he placed 15th in 17:21.01. Ethan Evers ended 128th in 20:19.63, and Caleb Rammel finished 137th in 20:44.16. Evan Evers (144th – 20:55.64) and Caden Marchal (214th – 24:22.91) also scored for the Indians.



Indians split games

FORT RECOVERY — Fort Recovery’s volleyball team split a pair of matches recently.

The Indians lost to the Fort Loramie Redskins (25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 25-13) on Saturday before rebounding to beat Division III No. 20 Versailles (26-24, 25-18, 12-25, 25-22) on Tuesday.

Whitley Rammel, who on Sunday committed to play for East Tennessee State University, finished with a team-high 19 kills and four blocks on Saturday. Marissa Gaerke was second with 10 kills.

Teigen Fortkamp and Mara Pearson each chipped in seven kills.

Faith Wendel posted team highs in both assists (20) and digs (13), and Aubrey Knapke recorded 10 digs.

Grace Guggenbiller and Fortkamp had a pair of blocks each.

On Tuesday, Gaerke and Rammel had nine kills apiece.



Huelskamp wins

COLDWATER, Ohio — Makenna Huelskamp was first overall in helping the Fort Recovery Middle School girls cross country team finish 11th in the Coldwater Lions Invitational on Saturday.

Minster scored 61 points for the win, with Versailles (87) as runner-up and Lincolnview (129) third. The Indians had 233 points.

Fort Recovery’s boys scored 161 points for fourth, behind winner Versailles (58), Fort Loramie (114) and Lincolnview (143).

Helskamp ended her race the victor in 12:07.35. Maddie Heitkamp placed 27th in 14:04.76, while Kylia Dues placed 73rd in 15:44.31. Aubrie Heitkamp (89th) had a time of 16:32.41 and Megan Weitzel (104th) finished in 17:25.52.

Parker Brunswick crossed the finish line in 11:32.48 in fifth for the Tribe boys. Reese Diller (12:14.37) ended 16th, while Trevor Bergman (12:52.79) was 20 spots behind. Russell Hart (13:18.39) placed 52nd, and Matthew Marchal (12:27.45) ended 56th.

Jay 8th 3-1

MONROE — Jay County’s eighth grade volleyball team went 3-1 to place fifth during the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday at Adams Central.

The Patriots lost to Heritage 25-19, 25-21 before topping Bluffton (25-10, 25-13), Adams Central (14-25, 25-8, 15-13) and Southern Wells (25-3, 25-16).

Jay County’s seventh graders beat Heritage (25-13, 21-25, 15-12) and Bluffton (25-19, 22-25, 15-9) before suffering defeats to Adams Central (25-20, 25-16) and South Adams (25-18, 20-25, 15-12).

Kayla Jetmore led Jay County’s eighth graders with 46 points, while Lilly Johnson was second with 17 points. Paisley Fugiett ended with 16 points. Mya Kunkler had a team-high 12 kills.

Lydia Johnson led the seventh grade squad with 34 kills. Chloe Byrum ended with 15 points and Carley Trinidad had 14 points. Lucy Mace’s 16 kills were a team high.