Clover spikers win JV county title

The Cloverdale junior varsity volleyball team won the Putnam County championship last weekend. Team members are (from left, front) coach Sam Jones, Alexa Wynia, Tiffany Wainscott, Skylynne Lowe, Aubree Branigan, Ashlynn Basore and Autumn Lewellen; (back) Kassie Wade, Kacey Shedron and Maci Jones.

Contributed photo

CLOVERDALE — Cloverdale won the Putnam County junior varsity volleyball title last Saturday by defeating Greencastle and South Putnam.

The Clovers just defeated Greencastle in a tight match a few days prior.

Clover coach Sam Jones said “a few mental errors and slow play“ saw the Clovers drop the first set 25-18.

The second set started off slow, Jones said, and the Tiger Cubs sprinted to a 13-4 lead.

With strong play from its outside hitters, Cloverdale’s Kassie Wade and Sky Lowe accounted for 12 kills as the Clovers outscored the Tiger Cubs 21-7 and took the second set 25-20.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair all the way to an 11-11 tie, before two kills from Clover middles Ashlynn Basore and Alexa Wynia helped seal a 15-13 win.

The championship match put the Clovers against the Eagles. Like against Greencastle, the Clovers started slow and trailed 18-11.

Serving runs from Kacy Shedron, Wade and Autumn Lewellen tied the game at 22-22.

Lowe stepped to the line down 23-24 and rattle off two straight serves to seal the come-from-behind victory 25-24.

The second set had both sides battling with long rallies and quality attacks before Shedron stepped back to the serving line with a narrow 12-10 lead.

The next time Shedron stepped away from the line, the Clovers were heading to the net to claim the title of Putnam County Champions.

Jones said “team defense and a great Clover attack” led to 13 straight points for a 25-10 win.

Since claiming the crown of Putnam County, the Clovers have defeated Riverton Parke and Monrovia. The Clover JV team is now 11-4 on the season.

“Our success from the start of the county tournament all the way to our last match against Monrovia has been a total team effort,” Jones said. “All 10 girls on my team are giving 100 percent and they aren’t worried about who gets the glory as long as we win.

“The girls have bought into handling adversity by coming together and trusting the process.”

Jones added the team has done well, but is not totally happy with its progress.

“I’m so proud of our accomplishments but we aren’t satisfied yet,” he said. “We look to continue to grow as a team and individually every day.”