Comeback kids

Things didn’t look great for the Patriots coming out of the gate Saturday.

Three positions quickly fell behind and something needed to change if they wanted to make it to Noblesville.

The Patriots got what they needed from the doubles teams.

Both of the Jay County High School boys tennis’ doubles duos came back from early deficits to lift the Patriots to a 4-1 victory over the Union City Indians in the IHSAA Sectional 53 championship match.

“I’m excited for the young men,” said JCHS coach Donald Gillespie, whose team has won eight in a row after a slow start. “Six seniors, you don't want them to leave their senior year without this. And we started the season with this as one of our goals. … Very proud of the young men today.”

The win earns the Patriots (12-8), who beat Union City 3-2 on Aug. 21, a trip to IHSAA Regional 14 in Noblesville. They will match up with Delta on Oct. 3. A win would then pit them against the winner of Noblesville and Frankton (Jay County previously lost to Frankton 4-1 on Aug. 19).

The No. 1 doubles pair of Sam Myers and Gage Sims had a rocky start to their match. They went down 4-1 to Union City’s Brennan Hoggatt and Jacob Thornburg. Midway through the set, they made some adjustments to attack at the net more with volleys and be aggressive on second serves to storm back for a 6-4 win.

The second set didn’t quite go as planned, leading to a 6-2 loss before the 10-minute break.

“After we lost us like it's, we sat down, we talked about what we needed to do,” Myers said. “We came back in with the intent of I have all the confidence in the world. We shoved it right back at them.”

They stormed back for a 6-0 sweep in the third set capped off with a hard volley from Myers in between Hoggatt and Thornburg and a scream of “Let’s go!” to push the Patriots to three wins and the team title.

Isaac Miller and Luke Muhlenkamp also struggled to begin. They went down 4-2 to Kolton Mills and Caleb Lutz.

During the set, Gillespie had Miller and Muhlenkamp change their formation up so that they played more in line with either both near the back or near the net rather than staggered with one at each end.

“It gives us more time to be ready for the ball and I felt like I was able to return the ball a lot easier,” Muhlenkamp said. “They'd either put a nice little ball up at the net, and then I just put it down or I'd find a way to win.”

They rallied for four straight games to win the set, including a 20-minute game with multiple deuces for the 6-4 win.

The second set went a lot smoother, as they quickly put Mills and Lutz away 6-2. The final game of the set featured four straight points earned by Muhlenkamp on two forehands and two volleys.

The first win for Jay County came from Abraham Dirksen at the No. 1 singles position. It only took him about 45 minutes to take down Owen Dowler 6-1, 6-0.

“Abe is Abe,” Gillespie said. “He’s just playing wonderful tennis. … He’s one of the top players in Jay County history.”

Eli Dirksen of the Jay County High School boys tennis team smashes a serve in the No. 2 singles match against Union City's Zackary Fulk on Saturday. Dirksen won the final match to cap off a 4-1 victory for the Patriots in the sectional championship. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Eli Dirksen picked up a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Zachary Fulk in the No. 2 singles contest. As he started to consistently place his serves and volleys onto the court, Fulk struggled with the power that he hit with, leading to the victory.

Liam Garringer’s growth was on display, as he led Corbin Richards in the No. 3 singles match at 4-3. He couldn’t hold the lead, eventually falling 7-5, 6-1.

The win for Jay County marked the first time it has won back-to-back sectional titles since 2006 and 2007. The Patriots also won in 2005 to make it three titles in a row.