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Eagle volleyball team falls to Warriors in three sets
South Putnam's volleyball squad came into Thursday's match looking to snag their second win in three matches when they hosted Danville.
The Warriors utilized their size and serving to instead send the Eagles back to the drawing board, snaring a three-set win 25-13, 25-11 and 25-12.
South Putnam head coach Kristin Hendrich could not find fault in the effort the squad displayed Thursday night.
"It's always tough to lose, especially in three matches, but I was pleased with the way the girls came out tonight," Hendrich said. "They had a lot of intensity, played hard and played scrappy, so I'm not really disappointed in the performance that I saw tonight."
The visitors looked to a one-two combination of frontline hitters Claudia Ellis and Olivia Hartman to do damage and Hendrich said that the lack of blocks from the squad made things difficult for all six players on the court.
"We looked to double-block on the outside when we normally single-block, but we struggled with the blocking tonight," Hendrich said. "It's difficult to pass up hits like that if there's not an attempt at a block.
"The girls were scrappy and they went after balls but if the blocks aren't there, we don't really stand a chance."
Danville was quick to get off the mark in the first set, turning a 5-2 advantage into a 15-4 gap that South Putnam found too difficult to overcome, despite a strong 7-3 finish in the opener.
Set two was almost point-for-point identical to the first as the visitors moved from 5-2 to 17-4 and quickly moved ahead 2-0 in the match after winning the middle round 25-11.
Getting the attack going was difficult at times for the Eagles and Hendrich said that the squad needed to be more confident in their abilities.
"I think it was a little bit of an off night," Hendrich said. "Our girls are young and there's a little bit of a confidence issue where they're maybe not sure of themselves.
"We have to be on them sometimes to stay aggressive at the net. They got it together in the third set and were a better at being aggressive at the net."
South Putnam held a slim 3-2 advantage in the beginning of the final set, only to concede the next five points. Though the Eagles did not let the set get away as quickly, they could not find a way to stem the Danville tide and lost the third set 25-12.
While the loss was heavy on the scoreboard, Hendrich said the girls never wavered in their desire to keep playing.
"Everyone's attitudes were great," Hendrich said. "They were very encouraging of one another and they cheered for each other.
"They never gave up and, even when it looked like we were really down and it wasn't going to happen, they never stopped and kept going the whole time. I was really pleased to see that."
South Putnam travels to Riverton Parke to take part in a four-way round robin with the host Panthers, Eminence and Indianapolis Broad Ripple.
Hendrich said that the early morning start would be the biggest challenge for the squad.
"I'm hoping that, even though it's an early morning, that we can carry this intensity that we saw tonight over into Saturday," Hendrich said. "Half the time, they look like zombies out there.
"Our biggest focus right now in practice is talking, being intense and never giving up."