'Plugs spark leads them to win over Cougars

CLOVERDALE -- The North Putnam volleyball team traveled down to Cloverdale and faced Speedway High School in the second round of the Sectional 44 bracket, the winner moving to the championship to face Cascade. North Putnam fell to Speedway in three sets, 25-10, 25-21, 25-9.

The Sparkplugs have several tall, athletic players that have helped them to a dominant 34-2 season, but NPHS coach her team was more excited than intimidated.

"Madi Asbell was a little concerned (about the height) and we hit right through it," NPHS coach Brandy Dickson said. "I do not think they went up intimidated whatsoever. I thought we had some good swings on the ball when they had the opportunity to swing."

Speedway had a game-changer, a dominant hitter also capable of flawless returning on the back row in sophomore Melanie McHenry.

A phenomenal athlete, North Putnam had to game plan for the McHenry since she is fifth in the state in kills and also the team leader in digs. She is also the Speedway football team's placekicker (40-43 PATs, 1-1 FG).

"We knew that no matter what we did she would put the ball down and she proved that today," Dickson said. "She's a very talented, smart player who hits away from the block almost every shot and sees the other side of the court very well, so we had to focus on what we had to do not how to stop her. There's only so much you can do with a player like that."

North Putnam was Speedway's greatest test of the entire sectional bracket. North Putnam advanced to play Speedway after they beat Monrovia, 25-21, 25-20, 25-11. Speedway advanced after they beat South Putnam 25-14, 25-7, 25-7.

The Cougars knew coming in that it would be a challenge but believed with heart and determination they could pull it off. Speedway has plenty of height with McHenry and junior Sam Rusler and the only match for them was sophomore Taylor Nauert.

Nauert did her best to stop the hard-hitting McHenry and Rusler, but they made smart decisions and most of the time hit away from the blocks, or due to their jumping abilities, hit over the blocks.

North Putnam started out slow in the first set since they were not used to the hard hitting of the Sparkplugs and had only seen one team this season that had the height and the power that Speedway did. That team was Western Boone and the Cougars lost to the Stars both times they played them this year.

Speedway increased their lead quickly to 19-4 but the Cougars fought to gain a little momentum and get the game to 21-9 before the Sparkplugs shut out all hope for the Cougars and won the first set 25-10. McHenry had seven kills.

The second set was the best stretch that an opponent played against Speedway the entire sectional. The Cougars got off to a very fast start, gaining a 5-0 lead. The Sparkplugs tried to battle back but each time, after scoring two or three consecutive points, the Cougars came up with a big block or a hard kill to stop the Speedway momentum.

After trading points back and forth for most of the game the lead was two for the Cougars, 18-16. A Rusler kill gave the serve back to the Sparkplugs, and they gained their first lead of the game 21-20. A couple hard hits by the Sparkplugs later, they took the second set as well with McHenry leading the team with nine more kills.

Speedway shut the door on North Putnam in the third set gaining a fast 6-0 lead and never looking back, stretching its lead at times on the back of good serving to 12-4, 17-6 and 20-7. The Cougars tried to make something happen but every time the speed and defense of Speedway denied them. McHenry had 11 kills in the final set giving her 589 on the season.

The Cougar back row did their best to receive the hits that Speedway laid but because the Sparkplugs hit away from the blocks it was impossible to guess where most of the hits were going.

The Cougars were the only team to go past the first round of sectionals in the county. With a new coach they had a good season, better than recent years.

"I was really pleased with our season overall," Dickson said. "I thought we accomplished some things that these girls were not able to do before, and played a much more competitive type of volleyball. We had a much quicker attack and we met several of our goals this year."

Speedway defeated Cascade in the championship 25-15, 25-13, 25-15 and will play in next week's Forest Park Regional, beginning with a match against Cardinal Ritter on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

At Cloverdale

Speedway 25 25 25

North Putnam 10 21 9

Kills: Nauert 12, Mindiola 4, Asbell 1, Millican 1.

Digs: Wiatt 12, Lucas 7, Asbell 6, Mindiola 5, Sanford 2, Reed 1.

Blocks-solo: Nauert 4-3, Mindiola 2-2, Clodfelter 1-1, Reed 1-0.

Aces: Asbell 2, Reed 1, Wiatt 1.