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Cougars lose to Cascade in four
CLAYTON -- North Putnam and Class 2A No. 16 Cascade approached Thursday night's volleyball match looking to establish themselves as the team to beat in the West Central Conference this season.
With the Cougars sporting a 1-0 conference record and the hosts sitting at 2-0, the winner would put themselves in a strong position within the WCC race.
The Cadets stormed to an early lead and after the visitors tied the match at a set apiece, a monumental rally in the third broke for Cascade as did the match 25-13, 17-25, 25-18 and 25-15 win.
North Putnam head coach Brandy Dickson said the squad showed a great deal of heart during the rough times in Thursday's contest.
"We've been struggling to keep things together as a team," Dickson said. "I felt that even when we were down, we never, ever gave up tonight. I felt like things could have gone either way.
"There were times where we let them in the game early and we had a hard time coming back. When we were on, we were on and the girls recognize the need to keep the momentum going in our favor."
The night got off to a rocky start for the visitors as Cascade pounced early and often, beating North Putnam repeatedly to the punch at the net to take an easy 1-0 lead.
The Cougars, though, took the lead early in the second set and kept the Cadets at bay with a strong attack from Kaitlin Mindiola, Taylor Nauert and Adri Millican.
Without the same success as the first set, Cascade misplayed balls that had been routine in the first set. Millican in particular gave the Cadets fits with placed shots late in the set that helped push the Cougars over the line.
Dickson said the squad bounced back extremely well from such an early set-back.
"The second game was one of the best game's I think we've played all year," Dickson said. "Our energy was up, we moved the ball around a lot and we were focused on what we needed to do."
Cascade started the third set much the same way North Putnam had started the second by taking an early lead, only to watch the visitors claw back and take a brief 11-10 lead.
With the momentum of the set hanging in the balance, a huge rally at 13-12 broke in the Cadets' favor and seemed to drain the energy out of the Cougars.
The hosts quickly built up a five-point lead and never looked back in handing North Putnam a 25-18 third-set loss.
Things looked promising at the start of the fourth set when NPHS took a 3-0 lead. Mallorie Smith took the serve for the Cadets and 13 points later, the match was firmly in Cascade's hands.
Fatigue gripped the North Putnam roster as the hosts ground them down in the closing stages to take the fourth set and pole position in the WCC race.
Even while trailing heavily in closing stages, Dickson said that the squad showed the kind of fight needed for later matches in conference play.
"Even after we had dug ourselves into that hole, I felt like we fought," Dickson said. "Our teamwork and communication is improving. I feel we can still really do well in conference play. The girls believe that too."
North Putnam hosts a pair of matches next week, starting with Bethesda Christian Tuesday before a WCC showdown with Cloverdale Thursday.
Dickson said that with the squad at 1-1, the conference matchups were ones the squad would be geared up for.
"Anything can happen in any volleyball game," Dickson said. "I know they were disappointed in how they played against Greencastle. When we play the conference games, we'll be up for them.
"I feel like we can still finish in the top part of the conference and the girls feel the same way."
At Cascade
North Putnam.................13 25 18 15
Cascade..........................25 17 25 25
Next Match: North Putnam (1-1 WCC) hosts Bethesda Christian next Tuesday.