All the singles ladies

It’s Andrea Garringer’s first year at the helm of the Patriots.

It’s Brenna Haines' fourth year on the team.

The Patriots’ singles players led both to a milestone sectional title over the Indians.

The Jay County High School girls tennis team made quick work of the Union City Indians in the IHSAA Sectional 53 championship match as the singles players paved the path for a 4-1 victory that earned the Patriots their fourth straight sectional title.

“I was nervous seeing they’ve won at least three years (in a row),” said Garringer, who captured a sectional title in her first season as Jay County’s head coach. “The girls wanted a fourth. I know that they wanted this year pretty bad. They were all very excited so this was my big goal.”

The win earned Jay County (9-6) the opportunity to travel to Nobelsville on Tuesday to take on the winner of of Sectional 54, which features No. 20 Delta and Muncie Burris, in the regional opener.

Brenna Bailey and Maggie Dillon did not waste any time putting the Patriots on top.

Bailey blasted through the No. 2 singles match in nearly 30 minutes. She didn’t often give up more than one point in a game to Elizabeth Prinkey in the 6-0, 6-0 sweep.

Bailey capped off the final game against Prinkey with four unanswered points that included a forehand placed perfectly on the left line and three mistakes by the UCHS junior.

Dillon only needed about 10 more minutes to take out Ashley Garrett 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles contest.

The finishing blow came on a ball that Dillon had to spring back for and hit over her shoulder to even have a chance to score. The ball had a lot of arc off of Dillon’s racquet causing Garrett to misplay it off the bounce and leave it short of the net.

“I’m just being more aggressive and placing my serves better,” Dillon said. “(Assistant coach) Donald (Gillespie) helped me with that to get my elbow back and not rocking back-and-forth when I serve. That helped me a lot.”

Haines secured the third point for the Patriots to clinch the title out of the No. 1 singles spot. She quickly beat Camryn Fischer in the first set, but was met with some resistance as Fischer still had a chance to move on as an individual if she got past Haines.

Haines ultimately held on for a 6-2, 6-4 victory that clinched the fourth sectional title for the team in her career.

“It’s great,” Haines said. “I don’t know how we do it. That’s just how we do, I guess. …

“There’s been a lot of matches that us three singles have won. I think it’s good that we can, for the most part, count on our singles to get the job done and win the match.”

Haines also keeps her ability to compete as an individual, as she has yet to drop a postseason match.

Meredith Dirksen and Sophia Sprunger added a doubles win to complement the singles dominance. The No. 1 doubles duo took down Shelby Arnold and Addison Thornburg 6-4, 7-5.

Zion Beiswanger and Lucie Henneaux nearly completed the sweep of the Indians, but fell to Luane Schoonbroodt and Kiernan Watson in the No. 2 doubles match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Schoonbroodt and Watson defeating Patriots’ duo made for a repeat of the teams’ regular season match on April 23, when only the Indians only defeated the No. 2 doubles pair of Jay County.