Cougars drop match in straight sets to Mounties

North Putnam junior Shay Lucas attempts a serve during a match earlier this season. Lucas had six digs on Thursday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- The North Putnam volleyball team traveled to take on the Southmont Mounties on Thursday night and the host came away with the sweep, 25-13, 25-17, 25-14.

The Cougars energy level was high for the evening matches. North Putnam stuck together after each point, whether they got it or not, a trend the Cougars hope will continue into the few remaining matches.

"I thought our energy level was great. We were together after each point. We cheered from the bench and I felt like the girls kept a really positive outlook throughout the game," NPHS head coach Brandy Dickson said.

North Putnam also was outmatched in size. The Mounties had some tall girls in the middle and sometimes the Cougars struggled in hitting over the loftier opponents.

"I thought we played pretty well overall. I know the score did not reflect it, we struggled in serving and they had one or two servers that really gave us a tough time. The ball floated a lot and moved about five feet. We need to learn how to take a full approach and put the ball away," Dickson said.

The Cougars scored the first point of the match, but after that it was all Mounties. In the first set Southmont opened up a quick 11-4 lead and did not look back, gaining the early 1-0 lead.

The Mounties picked up where they left off in the second set but this time the Cougars made a couple nice runs. The Mounties held a 10-7 lead and extended that to 20-16 where then they finished it out en route to a 25-17 win and take a 2-0 lead.

NPHS held strong in the third set before the Mounties pulled away.

Southmont struggled a bit in the third set and the Cougars took advantage, tying it early at 8-all. The Mounties pulled away from the Cougars and went on a 17-6 run to finish out the game and win 3-0.

Dickson thought it was a good game overall and the season has just been a little bit under their expectations coming into the season.

"One of their goals was to be .500 but I thought we could be a little bit better with the personnel we have," she said. "This has been a year where we had a lot of younger players, mentally they need to be stronger but, from the beginning of the season to now, I am very pleased."

At Southmont
North Putnam..........13 17 14
Southmont...............25 25 25