Quick to finish

The Patriots weren’t messing around Monday.

As they entered the final two weeks of the regular season, the Patriots wanted to win to start off on a high note. They did so in less than 50 minutes.

The Jay County High School boys tennis team only needed 49 minutes to complete the 5-0 sweep of the Blackford Bruins on Monday.

After some frustration on Saturday, JCHS coach Donald Gillespie was a lot happier with his team Monday.

“I saw a lot more hustle,” Gillespie said. “Spoke to them before the match and told them, ‘We'd played this team over at the Muncie Central invite, we knew what they had.’

“I wanted to serve and volley in the doubles positions, and I wanted them to go for their shots. And I thought they did a nice job of that.”

Abraham Dirksen got the ball rolling at the No.1 singles position. He finished his match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Charlie Crabtree in less than a half hour.

Abraham Dirksen found most of his success serving the ball, and just playing consistently to let Crabtree make the mistakes.

“It was pretty good,” Dirksen said. “He was having a little trouble returning my serve, but other than that I was just hitting him back and staying consistent.”

The next to fall were Colt Pennington and Zaden Stone in the No. 2 doubles.

With only seven minutes passing since the Patriots took the No. 1 singles, Isaac Miller and Luke Muhlenkamp claimed the No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-0. They secured the win with four-straight aces by Muhlenkamp.

The other three victories for Jay County all came within five minutes of each other.

The No. 1 doubles duo of Sam Myers and Gage Sims finished their match first to clinch the win for Jay County. Sophomores Trenton Norton and Tanner Roberts picked up one of only two wins for the Bruins in the match.

Gillespie wanted the doubles to be more active and aggressive near the net, attacking Blackford’s serves and volleying shots. They found success in the match doing just that, as many points ended with one of them creeping towards the net and pushing a volley through.

“It was definitely a match where you have just worked on things,” Myers said. “Being more aggressive, moving a lot more, being aggressive at the net (is) the biggest thing that can help us to be better.”

Gillespie was also pleased with improved communication to pick each other up and help each other get better through the match. He noted a specific moment when Sims sent an overhead shot into the fence and Myers turned to help Sims out.

“They showed they knew what they're supposed to do. And I was happy to see that,” Gillespie said. “They immediately talked to each other and I didn't have to say anything.”

Two minutes after their finish, Liam Garringer completed a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Lucas Penrod in the No. 3 singles. Penrod picked up the Bruins’ other game of the day by lifting balls up that Garringer struggled to hit squarely on his racket, sending the ball into the net.

Despite losing the one game, it was still an improvement from the last time the two matched up. When Blackford and Jay County met back on Aug. 27, Penrod forced Garringer to a tiebreaker in the first set before he eventually fell.

Completing the sweep for Jay County at 5:49 p.m. was Eli Dirksen at No. 2 singles. Like Abraham Dirsken and the No. 2 doubles duo, he also had a 6-0, 6-0 sweep against his opponent, Carson Miller.

In the junior varsity No. 1 singles matchup, Dylan Chalfant defeated first-year player Franco Mendoza 6-1, 6-3.