North Putnam volleyball sweeps Mustangs

Taylor Nauert uses a one-hand pass during a match earlier this year as Madison Harris (back) and Raegan Bowling look on. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam volleyball team welcomed the Fountain Central Mustangs into town and looked to avenge its tough loss against Greencastle last Thursday. The Cougars succeeded in their quest dominating the Mustangs, 25-18, 25-22, and 25-17 to win in straight sets on Monday.

"I will take it as a win. At times, we really struggled tonight with our energy levels and we need to get way more motivated," NPHS head coach Brandy Dickson said.

North Putnam came out right away in the first set and got off to a lead, one it never relinquished. The Cougars were led in kills by sophomore Taylor Nauert with 15 on the night.

Dickson said that she played well, but needs to work on a few little things.

"She had a nice match. We need to work on her kill percentage overall for her, but she had a nice match," Dickson said.

In the second set the Cougars once again got off to a fast start leading 4-1. The Cougars and Mustangs traded points back-and-forth until the score came to 19-14 in the Cougars favor.

The Mustangs gained a huge surge of momentum and fought back to tie the game at 20. But North Putnam's experience helped them out as they outscored Fountain Central and won 25-22. North Putnam's setting -- led by senior Kelsey Reed and junior Morgan Sanford -- helped out big in the set two win.

"Our setters have been struggling getting passes but I thought that the setters did a decent job with the passes they got," Dickson said.

The Cougars shut the Mustangs down in the third set winning 25-17 and getting the sweep on the night. The Cougars back line made it hard on the Mustang servers as each serve was received well and that made it hard for the Mustangs to run their offense.

"I thought our serve receiving was good tonight, we struggled a little bit in serves tonight but overall I think it was good," Dickson said.

The Cougars look to mold this win into a good shot of momentum going into Thursday's game against Southmont. After that the Cougars look to sectionals and try to focus on what they need to improve.

At North Putnam
Fountain Central.........18 22 17
North Putnam.............25 25 25