Another foe down

The Patriots were coming off a pair of tough losses, including their final opportunity to get a conference victory.

Their minds were completely wiped of that as they rolled to victory against a conference opponent. 

The Jay County High School girls tennis team swept the Union City Indians 5-0 on Friday in a potential preview of a sectional opener or championship match.

Jay County (4-6, 0-3 Allen County Athletic Conference) previously beat Winchester Community 4-1, another potential sectional opponent on April 21. JCHS still has to face Randolph Southern on Tuesday, and will get its first view of the sectional bracket on May 19. But for now, the sweep of the Indians boosted the Patriots’ confidence even more about their odds in the sectional.

“It felt really good,” said JCHS coach Andrea Garringer. “I’ve been really nervous the whole season with these doubles. They just showed me right there that we’ve made a good choice. I felt better about seeing them together and it felt really good to 5-0 them.”

Faith Faulkner and Raylah Newton left no ball uncontested as they steamrolled through their No. 1 doubles match against Cintia Banda and My LaFuze.

The duo got off to a quick start in the first set. Newton started the first game with back-to-back aces with Banda returning the ball long and LaFuze leaving it short of the net. The Indians managed to return the ball after the next two serves but the Patriots outlasted them each time before Banda made an error.

In no time at all, Faulkner and Newton won the first set 6-0. Their only blemish in the second set came in the fourth game, but they quickly flushed it to pull it out 6-1. It took the Patriots less than 45 minutes to wipe out the UCHS duo.

“I switched the lineup this week and took Faith out for a minute,” Garringer said. “I was nervous putting them back together because they didn’t practice at all this week. But they needed that confidence boost. Both doubles teams did.”

Gretchen Link and Sophia Sprunger had a bit of a rockier path in the No. 2 doubles contest, trading games with Sofia Emrick and Emmi Kreiner in the first set. At one point, Link and Sprunger trailed 4-3, but came back to take the lead to win the set 6-4.

They cruised through the second set to beat Emrick and Kreiner 6-2 a little more than an hour after the lineups were read off.

Photo Gallery

Jay County girls tennis v. Union City (5/9/2025)

The Patriots’ two most dependable positions pulled off victories as well.

Brenna Bailey, who was battling an illness that affected her ability to breathe clearly, swept Ashley Garrett 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 1 doubles match. Bailey had to keep the pace slow in the beginning due to a runny nose that impeded her breathing, and in return, Garrett continuously pushed the ball from one half of the court to the other to force the Patriot senior to move.

“She tried to get me out of breath, and she was but I just tried to place it where I knew her weakness was,” Bailey said. “If you hit it right at her, a little short, she wasn’t very good at that. … Then my serves were good, so that’s how I won.”

Because Bailey fought through the match, she preserved her perfect 10-0 start to the season. Despite moving up from No. 2 singles to No. 1, she is just one win away from her total number of wins from a season ago.

“I just got more knowledge of the game in the offseason working with Delta’s assistant coach,” Bailey said. “I’m just more patient this year and try not to get into a bad mindset. … I’m really happy (with the start) but it makes me a little more nervous to lose.”

Meredith Dirksen won her eighth match of the season at the No. 2 singles position, taking down Shleby Arnold 6-2, 6-0.

Lily Johnson gave up two of the first three games to Union City’s No. 3 singles player Addison Thornburg, but ended up taking the set 6-2. They traded games in the second set, forcing a tiebreaker that Johnson got ahead 5-1 before securing the 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory.

“Lily is the most mentally strong player that I have,” Garringer said. “Nothing phases her. She doesn’t get down on herself. She can shake off a game if she loses it and come back from it and in tennis I think that’s probably one of the most important things.”

Adams Central 4

Jay County 1

The Jay County girls tennis team dropped its final Allen County Athletic Conference match of the season 4-1 to Adams Central on Thursday.

Bailey secured the only point for the Patriots, beating Melanie Bertsch 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles contest.

Dirksen nearly beat McKayla Ringger at the No. 2 singles position, but instead had her five-match win streak snapped 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Johnson nearly forced a third set, but dropped the No. 3 singles match 7-5, 6-2 to Tenley Hendricks.

Link and Sprunger couldn’t come up with the win in the No. 2 doubles match, losing to Jillian Brotherton and Lila Ringger 6-3, 6-1.

Adams Central’s Alexa Brotherton and Macy McClure swept Courtney Harris and Newton 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 1 doubles position.