North Putnam overtakes Eagles

Friday, September 2, 2011
North Putnam's Morgan Robinson readies to throw down a kill during Thursday's match at South Putnam.

The opening game of the WCC schedule for North Putnam and South Putnam ended with the Cougars picking up the win.

The host Eagles went down in three straight sets to the Cougars, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-23.

Both teams came in on the backs of four-set losses on Tuesday, but North Putnam looked more ready to reverse the course than the hosts did.

The Cougars took as large as a nine point lead in the first set at 16-7 before South Putnam began to crawl back in to the contest. The gap closed to as close as four, but North rode out the back and forth wave to take the first set by six points.

Set two had a similar feel as North again jumped out to an early lead before South got going. The Cougars gave little chance for the hosts to get a foothold in proceedings like they had done in the first set and shut the door early, winning by eight points.

The visitors then looked set to rock the Eagles, building up a 12- point lead as the hosts were reeling. A furious comeback attempt ensued as South finally showed some of the skills that they had at their disposal.

For a brief moment, a fourth set looked likely as the Eagles grabbed a 22-21 lead, only to watch it slip away as the Cougars held firm in the final few points to ensure their conference schedule got off to the right start.

For Cougar head coach Jill Schreiber, it was a glimpse into the capabilities of her squad.

"We came and played. Wednesday was not a very fun practice. We really did a lot of focusing. They came out and played like they can. That's the team that I expect every game," Schreiber said.

"We looked at us. We didn't look at our opponents. We looked to see what we could improve and we just decided to come out

"I told them it was their choice. I told them they had the skill and ability, but it was there choice. Their choice was to come out and play tonight," Schreiber added.

The difference between Tuesday and Thursday was the kind that any coach likes and Schreiber was enjoying it.

"It was a great game. I loved to watch it, coach it. They played as a team, like I know they could," Schreiber said.

"This really helps our confidence. It's the first conference win. This give us confidence going into next week."

For South Putnam head coach Renata Hendrickson, her squad didn't get in gear fast enough

"We didn't play our best game. We could have played a lot better. Towards the end we tried to make a comeback but it wasn't quite enough. We started too late," Hendrickson said.

"North Putnam had a great game tonight. They were hitting and making great passes. They brought it."

After two off nights, Hendrickson said that it was work on controllable things that needed to be done.

"You're going to have ups and downs throughout the season. We can get better from this and we're going to. We're going to practice on the things that need to be practiced on," Hendrickson said.

"I think next Wednesday has got be a lot better than tonight."

At South Putnam

North Putnam 25 25 25

South Putnam 19 17 23