South Putnam sweeps Cloverdale to open volleyball season

Tuesday, August 16, 2022
When not setting up her teammates, South Putnam's Taylor Hartley was able to land a few kills of her own during Tuesday's 25-16, 25-12, 25-12 win over Cloverdale in the Eagles' season opener.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

The first Putnam County volleyball match of the 2022 season played out at Central Elementary Tuesday as South Putnam opened its season hosting Cloverdale.

After falling in five sets Monday night at North Central, the Clovers kept things close in the opening set but lacked the energy to hold off the Eagles, who swept away a 25-16, 25-12, 25-12 win.

“We felt really good about that,” South Putnam head coach Ellen Cash said about claiming a 3-0 sweep. “It comes down to this team’s dynamic; they work really well together and build great momentum.

“They got all their jitters out as the first set went on. It was the first game, they’re in a different setting this year and there were a lot of unknowns for them but as they worked that out, their natural team dynamic shown through.”

“The girls, at times, looked good,” Cloverdale head coach Paige Glassburn said. “They knew we can play a lot better and play as a team, especially (Monday) night, taking it to five sets.

“We discussed after the game how much they played as a team and how much we did not play together tonight. We had a lot of miscommunication on passing; we’ve worked a lot on passing and that’s what we’ll be working on Thursday.”

Both teams came in with smaller front lines than in the past few seasons and play reflected the change as both sides struggled to get hits down in the early going.

Cloverdale led briefly to start the set before South Putnam moved in front, building a five-point lead at 12-7.

The Clovers rallied back to trim the gap to 13-12 after a pair of Eagle miscues but the lead soon grew back to five and reached seven at 20-13.

Kills from Taylor Hartley and Peyton Freeman helped put the set away as the Clovers had trouble chaining together passes late in the set.

The hosts quickly took control of set two, building a 14-4 lead and led by 12 at 20-8 after an Emmalyn Jeter kill and Joscelyn Pilcher ace.

South Putnam’s service game kept Cloverdale guessing and often kept the visitors from getting into an offensive rhythm as the second set ended 25-12.

The Eagles again shot out to an early double-digit lead in set three, jumping ahead 13-2 before the Clovers found a brief second win, closing the gap to 15-10.

There wasn’t any stopping the hosts from taking the final set as Chlara Pistelli landed three aces in-a-row as part of a six-point run to close the match.

Both teams return to action Thursday as Cloverdale hosts Cascade while South Putnam travels to Clay City.

“I told the girls they had better bring their A game (Wednesday) at practice,” Glassburn said. “Thursday is going to be a tough match for us but everything is doable and we’ll go night by night.”

“(Wednesday) we’ll watch the film back and look at some holes we had in our defense,” Cash said. “We’re doing things a lot different this year so the girls that carried over from last year are learning a new defense and new rotations.

“If we go over some of those things, we’ll be a lot sharper for Thursday.”

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