Eagles fall in four sets to Patriots

South Putnam's volleyball team took on an Owen Valley side fresh off of a stinging loss to Cloverdale Tuesday night, looking to extend the Patriot's two-game slide.

The visitors were in no mood to lose, however, and knocked off the Eagles 25-14, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-10.

Owen Valley rocked the hosts in the opening set 25-14 and looked set to do so in the second set as well.

The Patriots took a 5-0 early in the second before South Putnam went on a 12-2 run to take a five point lead at 12-7.

The two teams traded off points until the visitors tied the score at 19-19 and 22-22.

The hosts took the advantage at 24-22 and gave up a point before securing the set on a Leanna Masters kill.

The Patriots recovered and took an early 8-5 lead in the third set before the teams went point for point until Owen Valley opened up a five point gap at 20-15.

South Putnam could only come as close as three points before the visitors took the third set 25-20.

Owen Valley then routed the Eagles in the fourth set to finish the match with a 25-10 win to cap off a 3-1 match win.

South Putnam head coach Renata Hendrickson said that the start and finish of the match masked a solid middle set performance.

"We started off a little rough, but we came back and the girls started playing well together. It is a loss but we did play better tonight then we have been," Hendrickson said.

"We need to keep working together and keep the enthusiasm and excitement up. Our hitting looked really good tonight. We need to work on starting and ending matches strong."

Owen Valley didn't overpower the Eagles as much as place shots around them, a tactic that Hendrickson said was new to the squad.

"It comes down to conditioning. They've got to move their feet quickly, get to spots and get own and dirty a little bit," Hendrickson said.

"We haven't played a team that hit precise shots like Owen Valley but we now see that we have to work on defending that a little bit more."

With their match against Eminence Thursday cancelled, South Putnam gets two days to prepare for the Putnam County Tournament.

Opening against North Putnam, Hendrickson said the squad knows what the hosts will throw at them and must be ready to defend against them.

"We played North Putnam recently and we know what they're capable of. They have good hitters and they're a really enthusiastic team," Hendrickson said.

"We have to work on keeping our enthusiasm up and practice the things that they did against us earlier. We have two days to work and we need to be ready to go on Saturday."

At South Putnam

Owen Valley 25 23 25 25

South Putnam 14 25 20 10

Next Match: South Putnam faces North Putnam in the Putnam County Tournament Saturday.