Cougars fall in three sets to Mustangs

ROACHDALE - The North Putnam Cougars volleyball team ran into buzzsaw Thursday as they hosted the 24-win Edgewood Mustangs and middle hitter Kaiden Harrington. Harrington had 18 kills on the night to lead them to the straight-set victory to close out the regular season.

The first set started very tight and North led early on 4-3 behind a pair of kills each from Saylor Carrell and Ashley Riley. The Mustangs slowly crept away behind the play of Harrington with several kills and two service aces to boot. Gracie Farmer got into the mix for Edgewood with a pair of blocks and three kills herself to boost their lead to six. Harrington then took over with five more kills, nine total in the set, and a block of her own to put them on the doorstep. Adia May would finish it off for a 25-17 set victory.

Edgewood jumped out quickly to start the second set, scoring the first five. Farmer with two aces and another kill from Harrington had them up 5-0. The Cougars would claw their way back into it behind Riley and Callee Riggle, each with a pair of kills. They would get back to within two on multiple occasions, but the Mustangs were able to counter stretch their advantage back out, keeping North off kilter. The Cougars fell 25-16 in the set, now down two sets to none.

Edgewood would again start off strong, showing their record was no fluke. Harrington would add five kills to her total in a stretch that saw the Mustangs take a 12-4 lead. North was not going down without a fight though. The Cougars began chipping away and kills from Riley, Phoebe Fouts and Alexa Stiff brought them back into the set. Later, an ace from Riley and kills from Stiff and Mackenzie Mason had them back within three. From there the two teams went back and forth, but the Mustangs’ middles were too strong. Farmer would close out the final set for a 25-22 victory.

“Edgewood is big, they swing hard, they block well. We got ourselves in too big a hole to catch up,” Cougar coach Jenny Heron said.

The Cougars record falls to 15-11 and 6-4 in the Western Indiana Conference, good for fourth place. Edgewood is now 25-5 and 9-1 in WIC action to place second behind only Northview. North Putnam will now have to prepare for sectionals and their first round matchup with Greencastle next Thursday. The teams split during the regular season.

“It is going to be a dogfight. Greencastle plays hard and is well coached, it should be a lot of fun,” added coach Heron

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Kills - (NP) Carrell 6, Riley 6, Stiff 5, Fouts 4, Riggle 2, Daigle 1, Rust 1, Mason 1; (E) Harrington 18, Farmer 9, Edgeman 5, May 2, Ash 1

Aces - (NP) Rust 1, Daigle 1, Stiff 1, Riley 1; (E) Edgeman 3, Harrington 2, Farmer 2

Blocks - (NP) Fouts 1, Daigle 1; (E) Farmer 3, Harrington 1