Menu
South Putnam wins volleyball opener at Cloverdale
CLOVERDALE – A night after Cloverdale opened the 2023 volleyball season with a tough five-set loss against North Central, the Clovers turned around to take on South Putnam Tuesday in the Eagles’ season opener.
The visitors won two hard-earned sets before the fatigue grappled the Clovers, allowing the Eagles to roll through the third set for a 25-22, 25-19, 25-9 win.
“It felt like an opening game for sure,” South Putnam head coach Ellen Houser said. “We definitely have some things to go back and work on, some silly errors and some things to talk through.
“We still feel good about it, throwing a new lineup in and seeing them come together. Olivia (Woolums) gave us some great points and all three of my seniors provided us with good things in both defense and offense. We were a little shaky but I have great hopes we’ll pull it all together.”
“The girls played well and have grown a ton since the beginning of the summer,” Cloverdale head coach Paige Glassburn said. “It was the second night of games and that showed in the third set.
“We don’t have a lot of subs and the girls were tired in the end. They are very close to it all clicking and they’re working well together.”
South Putnam started off on the right foot as Chlara Pistelli had three early aces to help build a 5-0 lead, one that jumped out to 10-3 early off a Madison Gardner ace.
Cloverdale pulled the game back to 11-8 off the back of a few Eagle misses along the front line, drawing as close a 17-16 off a Yasmine Sorter ace.
The Eagle service game that started off strong struggled late, allowing the Clovers to hang around but important kills from Woolums helped the visitors secure the opening set.
A closer start to the second set eventually saw South Putnam move ahead 12-7 before the hosts scored six of the next seven points to tie the match at 13-13.
Cloverdale could not get in front, however, as a pair of misplays and an ace from Pistelli pushed the lead out to 16-13.
Lilly Emmerich added two kills to keep the hosts at bay while attacking errors eventually allowed the visitors to see out the final points and claim the second set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Although the third set started off close, Cloverdale began to fade after the initial points and South Putnam was quick to finish off the night.
Gardner grabbed a block, kill and point while Woolums added a block and kill and Danae Cline paired in two aces as a 10-6 lead grew quickly to 19-7.
Pistelli added another ace while Woolums and Joscelyn Pilcher added the final two scores as the Eagles closed out the night with a flourish.
Houser noted some of the newer front line players made big impacts throughout the opening win.
“Lilly had a great game for us,” Houser said. “She had some key points for us in the match.
“Taylor (Wagoner) is fresh to the varsity game. She’s a dancer at heart and tends to move like one on the court; I’d like her to be a little more aggressive as she has great potential.
“Madison played a few varsity games last year and did a good job blocking up front,” Houser added. “She knows the position and will do a great job as well.”
Despite a 0-2 start, Glassburn said the girls were not in a bad spot but needed to cut down on some unforced errors in the future.
“The girls played well after (Monday’s) tough loss,” Glassburn said. “We felt a lot of tonight was our errors and we talked about eliminating our free balls going out, our bad serves and getting our passes to our setter (Jacie Neese) so she’s not running around everywhere.”