Jay wins battle of Patriots

Jay County was pushed to its limit in its final Allen County Athletic Conference match of the season.

Despite dropping two close sets, they found a way to pull out the match.

The Jay County High School volleyball team earned a hard-fought 28-30, 25-16, 25-19, 25-27, 15-12 win against the Heritage Patriots during senior night on Thursday.

Bella Denton put together a big performance for Jay County (10-11, 3-3 ACAC) racking up 15 kills, four blocks and an ace. Behind Denton, Maggie Dillon and Laila Waddell added eight kills while Mya Kunkler contributed two blocks.

Sophie Saxman ran the offense with 30 assists while also leading the defensive effort with 28 digs. Also contributing to a strong defensive effort were Brenna Haines with 27 digs and Dillon with 17.

The junior varsity team beat Heritage 25-20, 25-19 as well. Hallie Schwieterman exploded for 10 kills. Kendel Rowles added four. Paisley Fugiett ran the offense, totaling 10 assists. Anchoring the defensive effort were Elizabeth Barnett, Carley Trinidad and Kayla Jetmore, who combined for 16 digs.

Scoring first goals

MUNCIE — Two players scored their first career goals during the Jay County girls soccer team’s 8-0 victory over Muncie Central on Thursday.

Both second-half goals from Jay County (6-8-1) came from players who normally play on the defensive line.

First, Ellie Wendel stepped up to take a penalty kick with 30:18 remaining and pulled through for her first career goal. Later in the half, exchange student Naroa Zugasti converted on her first career goal with 8:50 left in the game.

In the first half, Morgan DeHoff, Aixa Lopez and Molly Muhlenkamp each scored two goals. All but one were unassisted. The exception was DeHoff’s second goal, with Muhlenkamp assisting.

Meredith Dirksen was once again in the goal for Jay County, saving all seven shots that came her way.

Patriots out shoot

Levi Muhlenkamp scored three times to lead the Jay County boys soccer team in a 6-0 victory over the Liberty Christian Lions on Thursday.

Muhlenkamp has now scored hat tricks two games in a row after netting three first-half goals Tuesday against Blackford.

His first goal opened up the scoring just 7:18 into the game. He also had the only other goal of the first half, knocking the ball in at 6:21. His final goal came around 10 minutes into the second half.

Dylan Marentes also scored multiple goals for the Patriots (8-3-2). His first came at the 24:06 mark in the second half. His second came about six minutes later. He also had two assists.

Also with two assists was Oskar Alart Mateo. Along with his strong passing, he gave the Patriots one final goal with 1:52 remaining.

The Patriots out shot the Lions 39-3. Kaleb Coppock sent back all three of Liberty Christian’s attempts to score.

Girls dominate

CENTERVILLE — The Jay County Junior High School girls cross country team dominated Centerville and Driver (Winchester) as both teams stayed undefeated with a pair of wins on Thursday.

The Jay County girls took seven of the top eight spots, including Abby Fifer winning the event with a time of 13 minutes, 24 seconds. They finished with 16 points while Centerville was second with 64 and Driver brought up the rear with 73.

Following Fifer were Jessie Homan (second), Ava May (third), Brooklyn Byrum (fourth) and Lyla Kunkler (sixth).

For the boys, Raif Beiswanger crossed the finish line first at 11:34 en route to a five-point victory over Centerville (31-36). Other scores came from Sam Wiggins (third), Rocky Beiswanger (fourth), Carson Westgerdes (seventh) and Ethan Powers (17th).

Patriots can’t hold on

The Jay County junior high volleyball team fell in a close match to Heritage 11-25, 25-21, 15-10 Thursday.

Leading the Patriots’ attack was Amelia Heath with seven kills. She also blocked a ball.

Supporting her were Brenna Ruble with two kills and Gabi Petro, Peyton Schoelein and Allie Westfall with one apiece.

The Patriots (10-7) served up 13 aces to Heritage. Ruble and Kenady Lyons led the effort with five aces each.

Emalyn Homan and Lyons split setting duties with nine combined assists.

Lyons and Petro both had four digs to power Jay County’s defense. Ruble also added three while Homan had two.