Tigers take four

A Dirksen has led the Patriots for the entirety of Donald Gillespie’s tenure as coach.

While the team couldn’t pull off a victory, one of the newest Dirksens picked up the sole point.

Paul Dirksen won the No. 1 singles match for the Jay County High School boys tennis team on Tuesday as it fell 4-1 to the Alexandria-Monroe Tigers.

“I saw some good things on the singles side, but I can’t say the same for the doubles,” said Gillespie. “Not that I’m picking on the doubles, but I got to get better. I need a point out of doubles to win sectionals and conference. … So we’ve got to get back at some doubles drills I have not worked on. I’m not going to blame the kids, it’s my fault. ... There’s some things we can work on.”

The doubles teams had the toughest times, as each pair won three games apiece. Kadyn Carpenter and Alex Miller fell to the Tigers’ No. 1 duo of Cale Johns and Brody Sullivan 6-1, 6-2, while Aryeh Hollingsworth and Cooper Morgan beat Gabe Overton and Brock Wasson 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.

Both pairs got caught allowing Alexandria-Monroe dominate the playstyle as the Tigers worked the ball high into the air with lobs to set the Patriots up. The lobs would spread the Jay County pairs up before one of the Tigers would go to the net to attempt to volley the ball in between or get both Patriots at the net prior to sending the ball to the back line.

“That’s why I told the No. 2 guys that I wanted them both back,” Gillespie said. “I told them, ‘All they’re doing is lob, lob and then you are getting baited up front.”

Blake Jones implemented a similar strategy against Clark Wellman at No. 3 singles. Jones would utilize lob shots to try and set the JCHS junior up deep before taking something off the ball to get it to bounce twice.

Jones ran out to an early 5-0 lead before eventually beating Wellman 6-2, 6-2.

Clark Wellman, the No. 3 singles player for the Jay County High School boys tennis team, hits a backhand over his head while ranging back during Tuesday’s match against Alexandria-Monroe. The Patriots fell 4-1 in the match just one day after beating Madison-Grant for the first time in Donald Gillespie’s tenure as coach. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

While the Patriots (1-3) at those three positions struggled to control play, Paul Dirksen had no trouble against Ryan Long in the No. 1 singles match. (Long was filling in for an injured Owen May.)

Early on in the match, the freshman relied on mistakes by Long before turning up the speed later. In the third game of the second set, all six points ended with a hit by Paul Dirksen, including a trio of overhead shots and one cross-court forehand for the win.

Come the final game of the match, nearly every shot Paul Dirksen hit was intended to set Long up. The second-to-last point came as Paul Dirksen served the ball to Long’s right hand, forcing him out of bounds to return it before crossing the ball to the opposite side of the court. He then ended the match 6-2, 6-2 with an ace that got past Long’s outstretched racket.

“I was just keeping my mind in the game,” Paul Dirksen said. “I started out not very good the first two games, but I just stayed mentally in it.”

“Just move him to the right and then aim for the left. Just swing it across the court and get him to move and then hopefully finish the point.”

While he couldn't pull out the win himself, fellow freshman Henry Dirksen also had a strong match. He got down to Austin Webb 5-1 in the first set of the No. 2 singles match before fighting back to tie it 5-5. Webb stopped the slide there to claim the first set 7-5.

Henry Dirksen again found himself down 5-2 in the second set and started to make another stand, but it got cut short as Webb claimed the position 7-5, 6-3.

While Gillespie knows his team has some things to work on, he was encouraged by what he saw out of the Dirksens and even more so out of the way the group came together following the match.

“What I do enjoy is … we’re all here,” Gillespie said while pointing to his players cheering on Nick Snow during a JV match. “It’s seven o’clock. We’ve got two JV players playing and not one person has even asked to leave.

“This is a close knit team and I can’t beat the attitudes that I have. We just have to get better on the court.”