May 19, 2023 at 4:21 a.m.
Twin triumph
Senior sisters storm back in sectional final to lift Jay County to its third straight title
Twin triumph
By Andrew Balko-
Kaylee and Melana Zimmerman were down 4-0 in the third set.
Sophie Chenoweth and Brianna Smith had all the momentum.
Coaches Dave Cramer and Kendra Muhlenkamp called the twins over to the fence to talk.
Coming out of the short meeting, the pair had new life. They rattled off six straight games to take the set and the match.
They went to the net to shake their opponents' hands before they high-fived and pulled each other into an emotional embrace.
When asked what kept them in the match the two, fighting through tears, shared the same answer.
“Sisters.”
The comeback win in the No. 1 doubles match earned the Jay County High School girls tennis team its third consecutive sectional championship Thursday with a 3-2 victory over the Randolph Southern Rebels.
The Patriots will face Mississinewa in the Marion regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The match was one of runs, as Chenoweth and Smith earned a quick 4-1 advantage in the first set before the twins battled back to win 6-4.
The second set went back and forth, but ended with Chenoweth and Smith winning 6-4 to force a third.
“That’s extremely difficult,” Cramer said. “The other team has got the momentum going by winning the second set”
The twins had a slow start to the third set. Both sisters surrendered points, with Kaylee committing six errors and Melana committing five through the first four games.
After going down 4-0, their coaches called them over to the fence to share the message of settling down, not overthinking things and trusting themselves.
The twins came out with a sense of urgency. They were in total control of the final six games, never facing a deficit of more than one point, while eliminating their errors and turning them into points by fixing their ball placement.
After they tied the set at four games apiece, friends, family, coaches and teammates started to get into the matching, cheering and clapping for every successful point the Zimmermans earned.
After winning the ninth game for a 5-4 lead, Kaylee Zimmerman turned to her sister with a clear message.
“Keep it going! Come on! One more!”
While Kaylee Zimmerman’s outward presentation was confident, the reality of pulling the win off started to come to her.
“I was shaking like a leaf man,” Kaylee Zimmerman said. “I’m like, ‘I know it’s coming down to this point. I just gotta believe in myself.’”
A trio of errors from Smith and a perfectly placed backhand that took Melana off the court to hit sealed the deal for the Patriots.
“It was a miracle,” Melana Zimmerman said. “We couldn’t do it without teammates.”
Cramer was just as elated as his players.
“Right now, I’m very very excited and very very happy,” he said. “I can’t believe it. To be down like that and not playing well and all of a sudden just turn it around and come back to run off six in a row it’s amazing.
“Very, very amazing.
“I’m proud of them.”
The No. 2 doubles and No. 2 singles earned quick wins to start the night off for the Patriots.
Meredith Dirksen and Sophie Sprunger started things off for Jay County when they swept Jordan Black and Jacy Owens 6-0, 6-0 in less than 45 minutes.
“Yesterday we felt really good about our comeback,” Sprunger said. “We think it's a big mindset thing where we came in thinking we were going to do good and knocked it out right away.”
Brenna Bailey’s match against Winchester was rough, losing 6-0, 6-1 to Reagan Riggin. She bounced back on Thursday, beating Alexis Stump of Randolph Southern 6-4, 6-1.
“I haven’t won a lot this year so every chance I get I try my best and just keep fighting,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to come back in and help my team out for sectional.”
The two quick wins gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead with all three of the other matches in the late stages of the first set or early in the second.
“It definitely put some pressure on (the remaining positions),” RSHS coach Kyle Good said. “This one’s going to sting for a long time. … I really feel for my girls.”
Both Brenna Haines and Maggie Dillon suffered losses nearly simultaneously.
Haines played from behind for most of the No. 1 singles contest before falling 6-4, 6-3 to Kaibre Stephan.
Maliah Adams jumped on Dillon in the No. 3 singles match and won 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to tie the two teams at two wins apiece.
Sophie Chenoweth and Brianna Smith had all the momentum.
Coaches Dave Cramer and Kendra Muhlenkamp called the twins over to the fence to talk.
Coming out of the short meeting, the pair had new life. They rattled off six straight games to take the set and the match.
They went to the net to shake their opponents' hands before they high-fived and pulled each other into an emotional embrace.
When asked what kept them in the match the two, fighting through tears, shared the same answer.
“Sisters.”
The comeback win in the No. 1 doubles match earned the Jay County High School girls tennis team its third consecutive sectional championship Thursday with a 3-2 victory over the Randolph Southern Rebels.
The Patriots will face Mississinewa in the Marion regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The match was one of runs, as Chenoweth and Smith earned a quick 4-1 advantage in the first set before the twins battled back to win 6-4.
The second set went back and forth, but ended with Chenoweth and Smith winning 6-4 to force a third.
“That’s extremely difficult,” Cramer said. “The other team has got the momentum going by winning the second set”
The twins had a slow start to the third set. Both sisters surrendered points, with Kaylee committing six errors and Melana committing five through the first four games.
After going down 4-0, their coaches called them over to the fence to share the message of settling down, not overthinking things and trusting themselves.
The twins came out with a sense of urgency. They were in total control of the final six games, never facing a deficit of more than one point, while eliminating their errors and turning them into points by fixing their ball placement.
After they tied the set at four games apiece, friends, family, coaches and teammates started to get into the matching, cheering and clapping for every successful point the Zimmermans earned.
After winning the ninth game for a 5-4 lead, Kaylee Zimmerman turned to her sister with a clear message.
“Keep it going! Come on! One more!”
While Kaylee Zimmerman’s outward presentation was confident, the reality of pulling the win off started to come to her.
“I was shaking like a leaf man,” Kaylee Zimmerman said. “I’m like, ‘I know it’s coming down to this point. I just gotta believe in myself.’”
A trio of errors from Smith and a perfectly placed backhand that took Melana off the court to hit sealed the deal for the Patriots.
“It was a miracle,” Melana Zimmerman said. “We couldn’t do it without teammates.”
Cramer was just as elated as his players.
“Right now, I’m very very excited and very very happy,” he said. “I can’t believe it. To be down like that and not playing well and all of a sudden just turn it around and come back to run off six in a row it’s amazing.
“Very, very amazing.
“I’m proud of them.”
The No. 2 doubles and No. 2 singles earned quick wins to start the night off for the Patriots.
Meredith Dirksen and Sophie Sprunger started things off for Jay County when they swept Jordan Black and Jacy Owens 6-0, 6-0 in less than 45 minutes.
“Yesterday we felt really good about our comeback,” Sprunger said. “We think it's a big mindset thing where we came in thinking we were going to do good and knocked it out right away.”
Brenna Bailey’s match against Winchester was rough, losing 6-0, 6-1 to Reagan Riggin. She bounced back on Thursday, beating Alexis Stump of Randolph Southern 6-4, 6-1.
“I haven’t won a lot this year so every chance I get I try my best and just keep fighting,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to come back in and help my team out for sectional.”
The two quick wins gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead with all three of the other matches in the late stages of the first set or early in the second.
“It definitely put some pressure on (the remaining positions),” RSHS coach Kyle Good said. “This one’s going to sting for a long time. … I really feel for my girls.”
Both Brenna Haines and Maggie Dillon suffered losses nearly simultaneously.
Haines played from behind for most of the No. 1 singles contest before falling 6-4, 6-3 to Kaibre Stephan.
Maliah Adams jumped on Dillon in the No. 3 singles match and won 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to tie the two teams at two wins apiece.
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