Patriots enter postseason on high note

The Patriots are gearing up for what they hope will be their fourth consecutive sectional title.

But before that, they took some time to blast the Braves.

Jay County High School’s boys tennis team closed the regular season on Monday with a 4-1 victory over the Bellmont Braves.

Gabe Overton and Brock Wasson had the most convincing win at the No. 2 doubles position. The duo swept Grayden Kable and Kasey Teeter 6-0, 6-0.

Alex Miller was without his regular partner in the No. 1 doubles match, but Nick Snow filled in for Kadyn Carpenter just fine. In their first match together, they beat Raiden Knittle and Kaden Ramsey 6-4, 6-1.

Both Paul Dirksen and Henry Dirksen took care of business at the No. 1 and 2 singles positions. The former picked up a 6-4, 6-2 victory over  Larry Knous, while the latter defeated James Miller 6-4, 6-4.

Clark Wellman suffered the only loss for JCHS as he fell to Bellmont’s Caleb Coats 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.

The 14-7 regular season record is the best the Patriots have earned under Donald Gillespie. They will look to expand upon it tonight as they face Union City in the opening round of the IHSAA Sectional 53 at 5 p.m. on Jay County’s home courts.

Ranly powers

SPENCERVILLE, Ohio — The Fort Recovery volleyball team picked up its third win in four matches by defeating the Spencerville Bearcats 25-16, 25-17, 25-12 on Monday.

Bridget Homan led the offense with 10 kills. Kayden Ranly — who had 20 assists — also often looked to Cameron Muhlenkamp (seven kills) and Kenna Dues (five) while she added five herself.

The Indians (6-10) dropped in 13 serves on Spencerville (8-12). Brynn Willmann led with four aces, while Dues added three. Ranly and Homan each had two aces as well.

Tribe defenders sent back six Bearcat shots at the net. Alexis Grisez and Ranly both put up team-highs in blocks with four apiece. (All four of Grisez’s blocks were assists, while Ranly had one solo block.)

The defensive effort on the back row got spread out at Kayla Gaerke and Dues both had nine digs while Ranly contributed eight. Homan dug out six balls as well, while Muhlenkamp finished off the day with five.

FRHS will be back in Midwest Athletic Conference action on Thursday when it hosts Versailles before visiting Ansonia over the weekend.