PREP ROUNDUP: Clovers stay perfect with win over Eels

Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Cloverdale junior Hailey Thomas sets the ball for a teammate during Tuesday night’s win over Clay City. The Clovers remained undefeated at 4-0.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

CLOVERDALE — Two undefeated volleyball teams met at Cloverdale on Tuesday night, as both the Clay City Eels and the host Clovers had won their first three outings of the season.

While Clay City is still searching to put people in the right places in replacing six seniors from last year’s sectional championship team, the veteran Clovers swept the Eels in three straight games to keep their unbeaten string intact.

“The girls did a nice job of taking a step above their plate from the night before,” first-year Cloverdale coach Sam Jones said. “Our girls took that set that we dropped to South Vermillion to heart. I had to challenge them during the third set [Tuesday] that we need to continue to be a team that puts opponents away and doesn’t give them a glimmer of hope.”

Cloverdale junior Hailey Thomas was the “closer” for her team at the service line, serving the winning point in all three games.

Thomas served three straight points to break a 10-10 tie in the first set and the Clovers wouldn’t trail again. Clay City stayed close, coming within one point at 17-16 and 18-17, but three straight points from Kenzie Stoltz put her team up 22-17.

After two Eel points, Thomas served the final three for the win.

The second game was tied at 8-8 when Thomas went to the service line and reeled off six more. That stretch included three straight aces, and the Clovers took a 14-8 lead.

They increased that advantage to 19-12, although the Eels cut the margin to 23-19.

Cloverdale got the next point on a sideout, and Thomas served the winner for a 2-0 lead.

Clay City would not go quietly, and led 10-5 in the third set when Jones challenged his troops.

Trailing 11-7, Tori Combs got a spike to earn her team a point and Hannah Rady then served five more points in a row for a 13-11 lead.

The Eels were still within two at 18-16 when Cloverdale scored to force a sideout and Stoltz served two straight aces.

Thomas scored four straight after a sideout, with Combs getting spikes on the final two points.

“Our defense at times looked really good,” Jones said. “Clay City has a pretty nice attack that keeps us off-balance because they can set from pin to pin.”

Thomas and Kiya Daub both had double-digit digs, Jones noted.

“They were the only two who were keeping the ball in system,” he said. “Morgan Goss and Autumn Lewellen are really figuring out how this new defense works, and that makes us even stronger across the back.”

Combs led the Clovers with 15 kills, while Stoltz had 11, Kassie Wade and Kayla Perdue each had five and Haley Smith added four.

Thomas had 15 digs to pace the Clover defense, while Kaya Daub had 12, Rady had eight and Stoltz had seven. Thomas also served 13 points (four on aces), while Stoltz had eight points (two aces) and Rady added six points (two aces) with 38 assists.

“Our outside hitters were able to pull themselves out of a funk,” Jones said. “Kayla and Kenzie have are still working on scoring when we are out of system. It’s not going to be an overnight success, but if we continue to get one percent better each night, I like where we are heading.

“Haley Smith had some nice swings tonight as well. She’s a perfect example of how you can win more with placement than you can with power.”

In other volleyball:

Cloverdale 3, South Vermillion 1 — On Monday, the Clovers took the long trip to Clinton and left with a victory over the Wildcats.

The Clovers started the first set by blitzing the Wildcats 25-14 with Tori Combs and Kassie Wade pacing the attack. Autumn Lewellen’s serving charge created some separation,” Clover coach Sam Jones noted.

The second set saw a more consistent South Vermillion attack coupled with a plethora of Clover errors, and the Wildcats evened the match with a 26-24 win.

The last two sets of the match saw the Clovers get out to early leads.

A serving run by Combs separated the Clovers to a 20-16 advantage before Kaya Daub finished with four points as the Clovers took set three 25-17.

The fourth set finally had the Clovers dialed in on all facets of the game, Jones said, which they won 25-10 to clinch the win.

“I’m not sure if it was that we had a long drive or that it was Monday and we didn’t play this weekend or a combination of other things but this is the first time this year that I wasn’t pleased with our approach to the match,” Jones said.

Stoltz had 18 kills, while Combs added 17. Rady and Stoltz each served two aces. Hailey Thomas had 18 digs, while Daub had 12 and Lewellen had 10. Rady dished out 50 assists.

The Clovers host West Vigo on Thursday.

Southmont 3, Greencastle 1 — The Tiger Cubs won the second set 25-16 to even the match at 1-1, after dropping the first set 25-19.

Southmont bounced back to win the final two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-20.

“The team struggled to stay in any rotation for more than a couple of points,” GHS coach Maggie Walters said. “This allowed Southmont to take advantage of the team’s weaker rotations.”

Offensively, the team was led by Jada Amis, Macy Clark and Lilly Meyer each with seven kills. Jalyn Duff had 16 assists and Anna Zellers added seven. Mckenzie Woodall led the defense with 12 digs, while Meyer added 11.

The Cubs travel to Sullivan tonight.

Cross country

South Putnam 23, Cloverdale 32 (boys) — On Tuesday, the Eagles had the first two runners and three of the first four in defeating the Clovers.

South’s Austin Rumley won the race in 18:08.3, while teammate Karl Egold was next in 19:26.9.

Freshman Brady Koosman led the Clovers by placing third in 19:34.4.

Cloverdale had the first three finishers in the girls’ race, but did not have the required number of five entrants to be in the team competition.

Lily Monnett won the race in 23:39.4, while Chelsie Edwards was second in 26:50.1 and Macie Couch was third in 25:37.8.

South Putnam’s top finisher was freshman Lilly Vittetow, who was fourth in 25:55.6.

Boys

South Putnam 23, Cloverdale 32

1, Austin Rumley (SP) 18:08.3, 2. Karl Egold (SP) 19:26.9, 3, Brady Koosman (C) 19:34.4, 4. Eric Hinkle (SP) 19:56.0., 5. Seth Geiger (C) 20:12.3, 6. Andrew Carr (SP) 20:55.8, 7. Chase Ashcraft (C) 21:00.6, 8. Rylan Hall (C) 21:16.7, 9. Nate Nees (C) 21:39.8, 10. Eli Smith (SP) 21:43.8, 11. Clay Cash (SP) 22:49.2, 12. Daniel Johnson (SP) 23:07.5, 13. Brent Wiggins (SP) 23:18.3, 14. Josh Beikman (C) 23:29.7, 15. Allen Plunkett (SP) 23:42.8, 16. Elliot Williamson ( C) 23:42.8, 17. Nate Monnett (C) 25:29.5, 18. Ray Bates (C) 25:34.3, 19. Trevor Vanihel (SP) 27:28.7, 20. Grant Maners (C) 27:49.5.

Girls

(No team scores were kept)

1. Lily Monnett (C) 23:39.4, 2. Chelsie Edwards (C) 25:01.2, 3. Macie Couch (C) 25:37.8, 4. Lilly Vittetow (SP) 25:55.6, 5. Samara Young (SP) 26:02.0, 6. Sarah Jones (SP) 26:02.2, 7. Catherine Hodge (SP) 27:11.3, 8. Ally Menke (SP) 27:50.7, 9. Abigail Bernard (C) 32:30.9.

Golf

Terre Haute South 190, South Putnam 231 — Leighla Hazlett led the Eagles with a 51 as the Braves came out on top on Monday.

Drew Steffy added a 57, while Alex Steffy had a 61 and Kate McCammack added a 62.,

“Being down to four girls for this match put a lot of pressure on the athletes, as they knew their scores would count,” South coach Cassie Lehmann said. “Leighla kept her shots consistent for the match to shoot our lowest score.

“Alex Steffy also shot well, this being her first year of golf, to pull in a great round of golf for us,” Lehmann added. “She seems to improve every match, which is all you can ask of an athlete that is new to the sport.”

South Putnam 213, North Putnam 228 — Drew Steffy shot a career-best round of 43 to pace the Eagles over the Cougars.

“Drew really buckled down and played her game, getting a number of holes with par,” South coach Cassie Lehmann said. “Drew shot the personal best for herself and the team this season.”

Lehmann noted her team compiled its lowest score of the year with a 213, taking off 10 strokes from the team average.

“The four girls that played really showed up to play, which is what brought in the win for us over North Putnam,” she said.

Haylee Greene led North with a 52, while Abby Simmerman had a 54, Brittany Bonifacius had a 60, Nyiah Goff added a 62 and Grace Timm had a 63.

North wins triangular meet — North Putnam shot a 217 on Monday to defeat Cloverdale (246) and Owen Valley (266) in a triangular meet.

North’s Abby Simmerman was the medalist with a 48.

The Lady Cougar golfers won their first three-way meet of the season, and as a team recorded a first-time three-way meet win for Coach Linda Patrick.

“We have come close, but have never been able to break into the three-way meet win column,” Patrick said. “The girls’ play started out a little sluggish, but after a few holes they were able to get relaxed and just play their game.”

North’s Haylee Greene was second overall with a 53. Brittany Bonifacius added a 57, while Nyiah Goff carded a 59 and Grace Timm shot a 61.

Alley Angermeier came in with a 68 and Mady Williams finished with a 75.

“The Lady Cougars keep bringing down their putts and hitting more fairways and greens in regulation,” Patrick said. “I feel they are beginning to see what happens to their scores when these factors are increased.”

Sammie Shrum led the Clovers with a 54. Other scorers for Cloverdale were Michaela Nees (61), Grace Leonard (63), Libby Dominguez (68), Gayle Baugh (71), Gabby Hamilton (75) and Sarah Baker (79).

Additional info received — North Putnam played in the Western Boone Invitational, and more information has been received about the tourney.

Kokomo’s Kiah Parrott was the medalist with a 72, while Brownsburg won the team title with a 314.

North Putnam finished 15th out of 17 teams with a 444.

Team scores — Brownsburg 314, Tipton 325, Westfield 343, Kokomo 354, Lebanon 356, Western Boone 361, Southmont 365, Tri-West 381, Franklin Central 383, Hamilton Heights 402, Danville 408, Crawfordsville 408, Clinton Central 418, Cascade 419, North Putnam 444, Avon 452, Seeger 473.

Tennis

Greencastle 4, Edgewood 1 — The Tiger Cubs swept the singles matches on Monday to improve to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the Western Indiana Conference.

No. 2 singles player Anthony Conley improved to 3-1 on the season, and all other positions have multiple victories through four matches.

The Tiger Cubs won all three junior varsity matches.

They host Parke Heritage today.

Greencastle 4, Edgewood 1

Singles — 1. Trent Ross (G) def. Lincoln Hammond (E) 6-0, 6-0; 2. Anthony Conley (G) def. Cooper Thacker (E) 6-1, 6-3; 3. Henry Carter (G) def. Clint Shockney (E) 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles — 1. Chris McBride-Cole Burden (E) def. Collin Gasway-Micah Hammond (G) 6-4, 6-3; 2. Eli Hardwick-Holton Miller (G) def. Josiah Hinson-Gavin Norris 6-2, 6-1.

Soccer

North Putnam 8, Owen Valley 2 (girls) — The Lady Cougars made it three wins in a row at home on Tuesday by defeating the Patriots.

Grace Fry and Sophia Lotzow both put three goals in the back of the net to pace North, while Kylle McCollough and Hannah Sims both added goals in the second half.

“Sims and Brittany Beavers played great defense which kickstarted the Cougars in the second half,” North coach James Hilton said. “It was an all-around great team effort by the whole team.”

North Putnam 5, North Montgomery 0 (boys) — The Cougars got goals from Elliott Sabens, Dane Spencer, Brayden Polley, John Huffman and Ashton Shaw to defeat the Chargers on Tuesday.

“It was a great game, great effort and great win,” North coach Kyle Morgan said. “I love this team and the way we’re trending.”