Spikers fall in home opener

Jay County was lacking belief in previous years. This year’s team displayed that belief and kept themselves in their home opener.

The Patriots kept the first three sets close, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win.

Jay County High School’s volleyball team kept things close with its sectional foe, the Delta Eagles, before falling 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16 Thursday.

“I am very pleased with their performance tonight,” said coach Amy Dillon, whose team fell Delta 27-25, 26-24, 25-19 in last season’s sectional title match. “For being the beginning of the season and that’s a really great team (we played great). I've told them all along, ‘You play together as a team, and you get along and have fun. And we'll be teams we're not supposed to beat.’”

The match was largely decided by runs, with one team getting hot and taking a lead from which the other couldn’t claw back.

The Patriots’ best run came in the third set.

Jay County was down two sets to none. The two teams were trading points back and forth before a four-point run gave the Eagles a 19-15 advantage. The Patriots were starting to unravel and deflate.

A six-point run breathed life back into the gym.

“I’ve been telling them for four years, ‘Just go out there and believe that you can get to any ball and play hard,’” Dillon said. “They did that Tuesday night (a 3-0 win against Madison-Grant) and that was perfection … That’s what we told them during a timeout. it's not going to be perfect. They are bigger than us. They're stronger than us. They're going to block us and they're gonna get kills. And you've just got to play your game.”

Setter Sophie Saxman shoved the ball over the net so that Delta’s Olivia Morris couldn’t handle it, setting the ball backwards out of reach of her teammates.

The Patriots powered the rest of their run with strong defense and a key block from Bella Denton when she stuffed a ball at the net.

Throughout the run, the bench and crowd chanted “we’ve got a ball game,” that energized the team and fans.

The defense held solid during the run, leading to four errors by the Eagles including two double-hits and two balls that sailed far out of bounds. The run ended with the Patriots up 20-19.

The Eagles would regain the lead before Jay County’s second run put the set away. Denton started with a block to make it 23-22 in favor of Delta. Denton scored a second time with a tip-kill into no-man’s land.

The 24th point came on a long rally. Delta pounded a ball towards the floor, but a clutch dig by Maggie Dillon kept the rally alive. Jay County earned the point with Denton stuffing a ball into the floor.

A double hit on Brylie Tuttle gave the Patriots the set.

The Patriots struggled to hang around in the fourth set, falling 25-16.

The first two sets were close but ended in favor of the Eagles.

Trailing by 19-17, Delta pulled off a seven-point run to help secure the set. The run started with a service error. The Patriots had on hitting error to give the Eagles a point, but the rest came on kills and an ace.

“I think we just have a little bit more firepower,” said Delta coach Kylie Johnson. “I think Jay County did a tremendous job picking us apart defensively. But I think offensively we just have more options.”

The Eagles’ offensive depth helped carry them to a 25-23 victory in the first set and a 25-21 in the second.

Delta had 55 kills to Jay County’s 32, because of four Eagles tallying double-digit kills. Those players were Olivia Morris (13), Emily Reno (13), Addie Phillippe (12) and Maddie Grove (10).

Dillon was impressed with the performance that Denton and Mya Kunkler did throughout the game as middle blockers. Kunkler is still working up to the speed of varsity but Dillon noted how she was only a slight step off on most plays.

Denton led the team with 10 blocks while adding seven kills.

Dillion was also impressed with the level-headed play of Brenna Haines, who had 29 digs.

Maggie Dillon led the team with 10 kills while Saxman had 28 assists.

Jay County lost the match, but the players and Dillon had positive outlooks from sticking with a tough opponent and will look to improve come a potential-rematch in the sectional.

“This team works very well together,” Denton said. “Our chemistry is really good and that’s something we lacked in the past.”