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Cougars dispatch Eagles, return to county volleyball summit
CLOVERDALE – Going into Saturday’s Putnam County Volleyball Tournament, most of the attention focused on the second match of the day, pitting Greencastle and North Putnam, with the winner a heavy favorite to win the tournament.
The Cougars won the match over the Tiger Cubs to meet South Putnam in the championship game and while the Eagles tried to subvert the pre-tournament expectations, North Putnam returned to the top of the county standings with a 25-21, 25-15 win.
“South Putnam came out aggressive,” North Putnam head coach Jenny Heron said. “They’re scrappy and we just had to settle in, keep the flow going and put the ball away when we could.
“They tried to put pressure on us and I’m glad we were able to come out on top.”
“We did make adjustments to what we had previously seen with our defense,” South Putnam head coach Ellen Houser said. “Our defense is pretty solid; it’s not as quick as I would like and that’s where we got into trouble today.
“We played a strong defense team today and weren’t really getting a lot back at them.”
South Putnam won the opening match of the day over hosts Cloverdale to reach the final before the only three-set match of the day took place as North Putnam outlasted Greencastle for the other spot in the championship round.
Playing in a rematch of a 3-0 North Putnam sweep just nine days prior, the Cougars started the bout with a 4-0 lead, capped by an Addi Osburn ace, while a kill from Ashleigh Riley and Callee Riggle ace made it 7-3.
A point from Joscelyn Pilcher and a few North Putnam miscues saw the gap tighten to 8-7 before another four-point run, including a Saylor Carrell kill, Mackenzie Mason block and ace from Alexa Stiff, saw the Cougars push the lead to five at 12-7.
South Putnam pulled to within one again at 13-12 following a kill from Olivia Woolums and a Danae Cline ace but kills from Riley and Mason, along with another Osburn ace, pushed the lead to 18-12.
The Eagles made one last push to close the gap after falling behind 22-16 as Madison Gardner landed two aces around a Pilcher kill but couldn’t climb all the way back as North Putnam took the opening set.
Set two started off much closer as both teams struggled to get into rhythm on offense early, resulting in few won points and a lead that changed hands seven times.
Once North Putnam took a 9-8 lead, it would not relinquish it the rest of the match, though South Putnam kept things tight as an ace from Chlara Pistelli and a Woolums kill kept it a two-point match at 15-13.
“We were trying to be aggressive and trying to run some things we’ve been working on but weren’t able to,” Heron said about the slow start to the second set. “We’re a good serving team, put pressure on South Putnam and that was how we were able to make our run.”
The Cougars final broke clear after two Riley kills, along with an ace from Layci Reed, made it 18-13.
Lilly Emmerich broke the brief run but the Eagle attack ran out of steam from there, unable to find cracks in the North Putnam defense as the Cougars claimed seven of the last eight points to win the county title and maintain control of the Putnam County Paddle.
“Our main issue was that we would get a good up but not a solid pass to our setter and she has to work a little harder. Then we couldn’t get as great of a set and execute the plays we had intended to execute,” Houser said about the offensive struggles during the final. “Once the momentum turned, the girls lost some of their drive, unfortunately.”
North Putnam’s win made it two titles in three years for the school, which also won the JV county title earlier in the day over South Putnam, with Heron crediting everyone involved in the program for making the day a rousing success.
“We have eight seniors, all of whom contribute, and winning both the varsity and JV tournaments is a big thing for our program,” Heron said. “We know what we’re capable of and it’s exciting to see the girls pull together and make it a complete team effort with everybody involved.
“It’s great to see North Putnam volleyball at the top.”
Consolation Match
Greencastle def. Cloverdale
25-21, 25-10
Sent into the lower round match by North Putnam, the Tiger Cubs were sluggish out of the gates and the hosts were quick to jump out to a 7-2 lead.
Greencastle scored the next five points to tie the match at 7-7 as the two teams traded off points for the next stretch of the match.
Cloverdale took the lead back at 14-13 and 15-14 before the Tiger Cubs took the lead for good off a Kylee Owens kill.
The Clovers stalled out set point three times with kills from Emily Mann and Yasmine Sorter but eventually fell in the opener.
“Letting the sting of the loss roll off their back was the advice all of the coaches were trying to give the girls,” Greencastle head coach Denise Meyer said about the slow start to the consolation match. “It just took some time for the girls to let it roll.”
Greencastle was far more active in the second set, racing out to a 9-2 lead with a pair of Keely Amis aces helping to push the lead to 15-6.
Allie Landry landed a pair of kills and an ace while Owens added two more kills to reach match point, which Mackenzie Creviston put away to end the round.
“I was proud of the way the girls came out in the second game after a rough first game,” Cloverdale head coach Paige Glassburn said. “We came out good against Greencastle as the girls did exactly what we wanted them to do and they held their own.
“We’ve been working a lot on serve-receive and that looked much better than what we have seen the last couple of weeks.”
First Round
South Putnam def. Cloverdale
25-14, 25-14
A point-for-point start to the day’s action eventually ended when the Eagles scored five-straight points to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 lead.
South Putnam’s offense eventually got going after a pair of Woolums kills, an ace from Pilcher and a Taylor Wagoner block pushed the lead out to 15-7.
Three aces from Pistelli made it 22-9 before points from Emmerich and Pilcher helped the visitors close out the first set.
“It took us a couple of points to get warmed up, maybe even more than a couple,” Houser said about the even start of the day’s play. “We eventually got there, though.”
Set two started in similar fashion but the Eagles broke away quickly with a seven-point run early as Emmerich and Pilcher claimed kills and Woolums added an ace to make it 10-4.
While not extending the lead, South Putnam’s front row made sure Cloverdale couldn’t close the gap at any point as Wagoner and Woolums had three kills each over the remainder of the set and Pilcher added two points and an ace.
Sorter and Callie Smith had kills for the Clovers but couldn’t breach the Eagle defense with enough regularity to close the deficit as the visitors moved into the championship match.
North Putnam def. Greencastle
28-26, 19-25, 15-12
The match which drew the most attention Saturday was the second of the opening-round contests as the Cougars as Tiger Cubs squared off in a rematch of last year’s final.
Greencastle had the better start as a Creviston block and an ace from Meilani York helped the Tiger Cubs to a 7-3 lead.
North Putnam scored five-straight in reply with Riley scoring twice and a Phoebe Fouts block helping the Cougars move in front 8-7.
A Carrell kill and a net violation made it 12-10 North Putnam before Greencastle used a point and ace from Allie Landry and Owens kill to move in front 14-13.
Kills from Creviston, Amis and Maddie Plew turned a 15-15 tie into an 18-15 Tiger Cub lead, the latter adding another kill and block that helped Greencastle move into a 23-18 advantage.
The Tiger Cubs missed out on the next three points and a Carrell point closed the gap to 23-22.
North Putnam missed long to hand Greencastle set point but Mason scored at the net, Lexi Daigle notched an ace and an error put the Cougars on set point at 25-24.
Creviston connected with back-to-back kills to turn the set around again at 26-25 but Riley had the final say, scoring the final three points to hand North Putnam a 28-26 win in the opening set.
“Greencastle put some pressure on us and we were a little shaky in the back row,” Heron said about the opening set. “We were trying to calm our nerves down but we were still able to get some good passes to set up our front for kills.”
“Riley has shots for days,” Meyer said about the Cougar senior. “She’s hard to contain.
“We did some things well and tried to serve aggressively but when you play a solid team with scrappy defense and some strong arms, they wore us down. Kudos to North Putnam as they have strong leadership and a strong conviction to finish.”
Greencastle had the better of the opening points in set two, getting a pair of Creviston kills to take a 7-4 lead, but the Cougars pulled into a 10-9 lead after points from Carrell and Daigle, the latter adding an ace.
The set continued its see-saw track as the lead shifted three times and was tied five more times before the Tiger Cubs put the accelerator down in the closing points after a pair of Carrell kills had tied the score at 17-17.
Amis dropped in an ace and Allie Landry scored at the net before Creviston closed the set with a block and points as Greencastle scored eight of the last 10 points to send the match to a deciding set.
North Putnam took control early as Osburn dropped in two aces and Riley added a kill for a 4-0 start.
“We just needed to calm our nerves down,” Heron said about the quick start to the final set. “We know that if we play our volleyball that we can beat anybody.
“We just needed to settle into it and get back to normal. We had done some uncharacteristic things and needed to get back to what we needed to do.”
A point from Maddie Landry and ace from Allie Landry closed the gap to 4-3 but kills from Riley and Mason, along with a Fouts block, pushed the lead back out to four at 7-3.
“We made errors right away at the start of the set and it was almost all catchup at that point,” Meyer said about the slow start to the third set. “We did get there but it was too little, too late.”
Riley added two more kills to keep the gap at three but an Allie Landry point and back-to-back Amis aces saw the Tiger Cubs pull in front 11-10.
Amis saw her next serve hit the net, Carrell notched a kill and Mason added a block to flip the lead back into North Putnam’s favor at 13-11.
Plew scored at the net but another serve into the net put the Cougars on set point and Riley finished the match off with blast at the net to send North Putnam into the championship match.
“We wish we had a point here or a point there to get back in it,” Meyer said. “In the end, North Putnam proved to be the strong opponent we knew they would be.”
“Greencastle is a great team,” Heron said. “They’re big at the net, they’re scrappy and I was glad we were able to pull that out today.”