Patriots fight off FR

Both teams had a set in which they started off snoozing.

Those resulted in a split.

It was strong finishes in the first and fourth that lifted the Patriots.

Jay County High School’s volleyball team ran off the final four points to save the opening set and closed the match on a 7-1 run to fight off the visiting Fort Recovery Indians 25-23, 12-25, 25-15, 25-19.

“It was exciting and nerve-wracking,” said JCHS coach Amy Dillon. “It felt like in the second set, we kind of let our serve receive go down the drain and then that just killed us.

“I just keep telling them the same thing over and over, that you can’t play defeated … You’ve just got to go back there and take care of what you can take care of. And I felt like we started to do that in the middle of the game and the energy shifted. And once the energy shifted, then we were hyped up and ready to go.”

Though his team ended up on the wrong end of the score, coach Travis Guggenbiller felt the match marked a positive step for the much younger Indians. With three freshmen in the starting lineup and no seniors on the roster, they were able to push a senior-laden JCHS squad that is now 4-1.

“I thought today we played the best we’ve played yet this year,” Guggenbiller said. “I saw some great things on our defense. We started to do some things that we haven’t done all year covering the ground.

“We’re also just running some things that we haven’t been able to do earlier. So I’m not upset with the loss when you’ve got three freshmen and five juniors against (six) seniors. They gave them a run for it, and that’s a great Jay County team this year.”

Three consecutive points from Fort Recovery gave the visitors a 23-21 lead late in the first set and led to a Patriot timeout. The Indians had a chance to earn a set point when Cameron Muhlenkamp got a swing on the ball, but Jay County was able to fight it off and end the point with a Hallie Schwieterman kill. A back-row attack error and an ace put the home team in control, and the set ended when a scramble resulted in a ball off the arms of Kayden Ranly smacking the antenna.

The fourth set was tied at 18 when the Patriots went on the attack. A Maria Hemmelgarn kill put them ahead for good, and then Brenna Schmiesing rejected a quick tip attempt by FRHS setter Kayden Ranly. A well-placed Paisley Fugiett tip to the back-right corner made it 21-18 and led Guggenbiller to call a timeout.

The break didn’t help, as the Indians (2-3) made three consecutive attack errors before a Hope Evers kill kept them alive. The glimmer didn’t last long, as another Fugiett tip to virtually the same spot on the court finished off the Jay County victory.

“She’s so good at that,” said Dillon. “One thing that I told Paisley is she’s a great offensive setter. And if she has to go there, go there, that it was wide open. 

“And she picks a great time to do it. She’s good at knowing when and when not to.”

ope Evers of Fort Recovery High School lines up a shot while Jay County’s Brenna Schmiesing goes up in an attempt to block it during the opening set of the Patriots’ victory Tuesday over the Indians. Evers finished with six kills for FRHS, which will play undefeated Parkway tonight. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

Fugiett said she felt her team may have taken the Indians a bit lightly after they lost Kayla Heitkamp, Kennedy Muhlenkamp and Karlie Niekamp to graduation. But they’ve also had something to prove after coming up just short in a five-set loss to Delta in their second match of the season.

“We picked it up because we were like, we have to go,” said Fugiett, who had 34 assists and 11 digs. “We really wanted this. This is a rivalry game.”

“I think we’ve realized, especially us as seniors, this is our last season, and we all really want to win,” she added. “We really wanted Delta and we felt like we deserved to win Delta. And so after that, I felt like we have a spark in us that we want to win every game. It doesn’t matter what it takes. We just want to go out there and get the job done.”

Both teams spread out their offense, with Schwiterman’s 11 kills leading the Patriots, while Maria Hemmelgarn followed with 10.

Cameron Muhlenkamp was the top attacker on the night as she totaled a dozen kills for Fort Recovery. Fellow juniors Brynn Willmann and Bridget Homan added nine kills apiece.

After dropping the first set, the Indians scored the first six points of the second behind Kenna Dues’ serve and never trailed. Fortunes reversed in the third, with Jay County running off the first seven points with Kayla Jetmore behind the service line.

Dillon felt her team struggled a bit in its blocking game. But, the front line was helped by 25 and 18 digs from Lani Muhlenkamp and Elizabeth Barnett, respectively.

Guggenbiller saw the match as one of many challenges on his team’s schedule — it will visit undefeated Parkway (7-0) on Thursday — as it seeks to improve with a focus on the tournament after advancing to the regional semifinal last season.

“I love what we’re doing,” said Guggenbiller, who also got 35 assist from Ranly, 12 digs from Kayla Gaerke and two aces from Homan. “I love the growth we’ve made in a two-week period. …

“If we keep making strides in these right directions, we’re only going to get better as the year goes on.”