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Clovers top NP to reach semifinals
MONROVIA — On the surface, it may appear that Cloverdale’s 3-0 win over North Putnam on Tuesday night in the opening match of the Monrovia Sectional was a breeze.
The Clovers would be the first to tell you their victory was anything but easy, especially the first two sets in which they won by 25-23 scores.
Cloverdale got off to a great start in the final set, and while the Cougars regrouped and narrowed the margin the Clovers were able to hang on for a 25-14 deciding victory.
Clover coach Jim Spencer knew it would be difficult, and was glad his team was able to pull off the victory.
“North Putnam has played extremely well as of late and presented a real challenge for us to overcome,” Spencer said. “The first two games could have gone either way and we were fortunate enough to take a 2-0 lead. Anytime you get a win in the IHSAA tournament it is a good night. “
The first half of the first set was played to a near draw, with North Putnam cutting the Clover lead to 14-13.
Cloverdale got a point on a sideout, and Kaya Daub stepped to the service line and served six straight points to put her team ahead 21-13.
A few moments later, the Cougars got a point on a sideout to cut the lead to 22-17.
Freshman Kyla Willis then served five straight points to bring the Cougars back within 22-21. North could never take the lead, and the Clovers escaped with the two-point win.
In the second set, Willis served five straight points to put her team ahead 12-8. Cloverdale’s Morgan Goss served four straight points to put her team up 15-14.
North rallied to go up 21-17. Kenzie Stoltz served three straight points to bring her team within 21-20, and the Cougars held onto the lead at 23-21.
Cloverdale got a point on a sideout, and Hannah Rady served three straight points (including one ace) to close out the win.
Cloverdale scored the first seven points of the final set, increasing its lead to 12-3 and 17-6. The Cougars stayed even over the final few points, but Cloverdale was too far ahead at that point.
For North Putnam coach Bonnie Osborn, the defeat was softened by the knowledge that a great majority of her team is coming back for next year — and for many years after that.
Four freshmen started for North, and a fifth ninth-grader played a lot of minutes as a reserve. Coupled with the fact that the Cougars won the Putnam County volleyball titles in both seventh and eighth grade, Osborn understandably has a lot of optimism for the future.
“There are lots of good things to come for North Putnam volleyball,” Osborn said. “They are a family, and it means a lot of great things to come from North Putnam volleyball.”
Osborn thought her team’s youth hurt it in the final set.
“The first time we played them, we had an injury in warmups and so they didn’t get to see our full team,” Osborn said. “We made some adjustments, but I think we just hit a mental wall at the start of the third set and couldn’t get over the hump. That comes with young players, too.”
She has no doubt her players will work even harder next year.
“We have players who want to practice until 6:30 or later if it’s supposed to be over at 5:30,” she said. “They just love this game, and have hearts of gold. I have no doubt we’ll be back next year and give it a good run.”
Spencer, who took over from injured head coach Sam Jones early in the season, likes how his team continues to improve.
“I was really pleased with the way we were able to keep our composure in the first two games and get the wins,” he said. “We also did a good job of making some adjustments during the match that helped our defense do a better job of passing and keeping us in our offensive system. All of our players are getting better with understanding the scouting report and taking advantage of some situations.”
Tori Combs had 17 kills and Stoltz added 16 kills and 16 digs. Rady led the Clovers with 27 assists and 14 points.
Cloverdale will meet county rival South Putnam (2-17) at 11 a.m. Saturday in the first semifinal game.
“We now have a couple of days to fine tune what we are wanting to do on Saturday to give ourselves a chance to be successful,” Spencer said.
High school volleyball sectional schedule
Class 2A at Monrovia
Tuesday
Cloverdale 3, North Putnam 0
Thursday
6 p.m. — Covenant Christian (9-19) vs. Western Boone (18-10)
7:30 p.m. — Monrovia (18-13) vs. Cascade (4-22)
Saturday
11 a.m. — South Putnam (2-17) vs. Cloverdale (19-9)
12:30 p.m. — Covenant Christian-Western Boone winner vs. Monrovia-Cascade winner
7 p.m. — Semifinal winners in finals
Class 3A at Southmont
Thursday
6 p.m. — Greencastle (21-6) vs. Lebanon (11-12)
7:30 p.m. — North Montgomery (8-20) vs. Southmont (21-8)
Saturday
10 a.m. — Greencastle-Lebanon winner vs. Benton Central (23-8)
11:30 a.m. — Crawfordsville (6-22) vs. North Montgomery-Southmont winner
6 p.m. — Semifinal winners in finals