Eagles succumb to Eels in four sets

After dropping their opener on Tuesday, South Putnam hosted Clay City Thursday night looking to pick up their first win of the season.

Although they took the first set, the Eagles eventually lost the next three sets to lose to the Eels 3-1.

South Putnam started off quickly in the first set, scoring the opening eight points behind the serving of Makayla Albers and led by as much as 14-4.

Clay City rallied to close the gap and cut the score to 24-22 before the Eagles took the opening set 25-22.

The Eels responded by opening up a quick 7-0 gap to start the second set. The hosts would get as close as 12-8 before a strong service rally by Callie Dayhuff broke the set back open.

The visitors eventually ran out 25-15 winners in set two but South Putnam started off the third set with a quick 6-1 lead.

The Eagles, however, were shaken when Claire Miller pushed the Eels out to a 14-13 lead. The two squads were tied at 17-all before the Eels pulled away for a 25-21 set win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

After both squads traded points early in the fourth set, Chloe Kittle seemingly set up the Eels to cruise in the final set with a nine point rally that saw Clay City take a 14-6 lead.

South Putnam refused to yield and battled back to cut the lead to 21-18. The Eels looked to have wrapped the match up with three quick points but were forced to sweat out the final few moments.

Janet Crafton served four points to force the Eels to use a time out at 24-23. Kiersten Teegarden finally shut the door on a long final rally to claim the fourth set and a 3-1 victory.

Despite the loss, South Putnam head coach Renata Hendrickson felt the squad bounced back well from the loss to West Vigo.

"We had a great game. The girls were playing really, really well. We made a lot of improvements from the game Tuesday night," Hendrickson said.

"We did better covering tips, digging and blocking, which was especially important in the first set tonight."

Hendrickson added the squad didn't get bogged down when the match got tough and thought the effort would help them heading into the Eagle Invitational on Saturday.

"We went into tonight knowing it was going to be a hard match but we have no reservations about tonight. The girls played hard, they worked together and they played as a team with a positive attitude and did not let things get them down," Hendrickson said.

"We had a great game tonight and with a tournament on Saturday, the girls will go in with a good attitude and know that they're going to play hard."

At South Putnam

Clay City 22 25 25 25

South Putnam 25 15 21 23

Next Match: South Putnam hosts the Eagle Invitational on Saturday.