Cloverdale tames Cougars in 4 sets

Friday, September 24, 2010
Cloverdale senior Holly McCammon blasts a shot over the net during Thursday's contest with North Putnam.

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Lady Clovers volleyball squad was in action against the North Putnam Cougars in the inaugural Breast Cancer Match. The Clovers defeated the Cougars in four sets 25-17, 26-24, 17-25, 25-12.

Cloverdale started strong with a 14-4 lead. They were able to limit the Cougars to coming within eight points for the entire first set.

The second set was back and forth until the very end. Cloverdale took an early lead, but North Putnam was able to keep the game close until the end.

The game was tied several times and had several hard fought volleys. With the game tied at 24-all, it was anyone's game. However, the Cougars made costly mistakes that would enable Cloverdale to win again 26-24.

The third set saw the Cougars coming out with an early five-point lead. North Putnam seemed to be fired up and ready to play.

Cloverdale fell victim to mistakes, and the Cougars took advantage which enabled them to expand their lead to nine points. The Clovers were unable to recover and the Cougars won the set 25-17.

However, Cloverdale wasn't done just yet.

In the fourth game, it took the lead and ran with it. It had a 14-2 lead over the Cougars.

At this point, North Putnam seemed to have given up on the idea of rallying back for the win. In the fifth game, he Clovers took advantage of numerous mistakes and miscommunications by the Cougars. They kept the Cougars at least 10 points behind them for the rest of the set. The Clovers ended the set 25-12.

Cloverdale's head coach, Kathy Moore, was very pleased with the game and how her team played.

"We were so excited about this evening; it was really a lot of fun," she said. "This was the biggest crowd we have had at a volleyball match in a long time. The community really came together to support us and Breast Cancer Awareness.

"We had the pep band led by Bill Cole playing warm up music and Debbie Lambert leading the women's ensemble singing the National Anthem and they were all terrific," she continued. "The players were all in pink and most of the crowd was too, it really was something special. Coach Schrieber and I had planned this event for a while and it was nice to see it come together so well. Both teams had some great moments during the match, both with hard hitting and great digging."

North Putnam's head coach Jill Schreiber was also pleased with how her team played even without being able to win.

"I'm disappointed in the loss, however, I was very proud of the way my girls finally started to play as a team," she said. "We trusted each other and gained confidence in ourselves.

"We started out slow, and had to fight back, and they did," she said. "It was a fun game to coach as well as watch. I feel like my girls have taken steps forward. "We have a few more steps until we have reached our goal, but we are back on track. "

Schreiber was liked how her team picked up its play later in the match.

"The first and second game we didn't play to our level. The third game was great; we played our level of competition. However, the fourth game I think we thought Cloverdale would hand it to us. We started off bad and never gained momentum to get caught up.

"Mental and fundamental errors cost us important points. We couldn't seem to pull it together," she said.

The North Putnam coach acknowledged the efforts of Moore and her staff to get the game put together.

"Coach Moore and her staff did a great job with getting things ready and set up for the Breast Cancer Match," Schreiber said. "This will be a game we will look forward to each year. She has improved that team since she has come back to coach. coach Moore is a great coach, and I have learned and will continue to learn from her. I'm very lucky to have her as a mentor."

At Cloverdale

Cloverdale 25 26 17 25

North Putnam 17 24 25 12

Cloverdale JV was also victorious, winning 25-14 and 25-4.