Crawfordsville too much for Cougars

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

ROACHDALE --North Putnam volleyball was in action Tuesday night against Crawfordsville. The Cougars fell in three sets 25-12, 25-14, and 25-18.

The Athenians started the first set serving and from that point on, they were in the lead. This was partially due to their serving but also because of the numerous mistakes made by the Cougars. There were also numerous substitutions made by the coaching staff of North Putnam. However, no combination was able to put the Cougars in the lead.

Danielle Harbison was able to set the ball to Kallie Brattain at the net which enabled the Cougars to score along with Megan Robinson's serving. More mistakes at the net and miscommunication enabled Crawfordsville to run away with the set. The final score was 25-12.

The second set started with Morgan Robinson serving and the Cougars scoring the first point. Both teams saw errors that led to a tie at two. However, mistakes by North Putnam allowed Crawfordsville to take an early lead 4-2. The Cougars didn't just let them run away with it this set. Megan Robinson had a big block at the net to bring the Cougars within one. Once again errors plagued North Putnam and the Athenians expanded their lead to 11-4.

Crawfordsville also had errors. Errors along with help from Danielle Harbison's serving contributing points along with another big spike and a block by Robinson brought the score to 19-9. The seniors would also contribute another point when Harbison was able to set Robinson a ball, which she spiked to score. Allysa Roberts also had big returns from Crawfordsville's Emma Manns, who was a huge part of the game at the net and serving for the Athenians. Still, the Cougars dropped the set 25-14.

The third and what would be the final set started off close. Megan Robinson once again put up a big block and an error by Crawfordsville gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead. The game was tied at two, three, and four. But once again, errors started arising and that lead disappeared for the rest of the a set.

Samantha Lucas was a contributor with a big block which brought the Cougars within four. Just when the Cougars began to close in, the Athenians took off scoring and taking advantage of errors that North Putnam committed. Morgan Robinson was put a serve over for an ace bringing the score to 18-10.

Crawfordsville also fell victim to errors, which along with successful serving by Katie Welsh and Megan Robinson, who had an ace late in the set, bring the score to 22-17. Samantha Lucas was able to contribute at the net for one last point for the Cougars. However, the set ended with three errors allowing Crawfordsville to be victorious 25-18.

North Putnam head coach Jill Schreiber was pleased with the way her team played but was not pleased with the score.

"My girls played well even if the scores do not show how well we played. We played much better tonight (Tuesday) than we have in the last two matches.

She also said her team needs to not let their emotions get the better of them.

"We need to get excited about the good plays we've made and correct/forget about the bad ones we've missed," she said. "However, the girls did some things well. This team plays one level below their competition. We need to learn, as a team, how to be competitive and play our game at our level of competition. We need to stop allowing the other teams to dictate how we play"

At North Putnam

North Putnam 12 14 18

Crawfordsville 25 25 25

Junior Varsity

North Putnam 4 10

Crawfordsville 25 25