Warriors topple Cougars on volleyball court

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Cougar volleyball team battled for all it had but came up short as the Danville Warriors handed it a 25-19, 27-25, 25-13 loss in non-conference action Monday night.

The Warriors took advantage of a slow start by the Cougars, jumping out 4-0. North came back, getting the offense rolling behind Ashleigh Riley. She compiled five kills in the first set to help keep the set close. Leading by just one at 20-19, the Warriors took the last five points to stave off the Cougars.

In a highly entertaining second set, North looked sharp against the talented Warriors. The home team built a six-point lead after a kill from Saylor Carrell, her third of the set.

Every time it seemed the Cougars could pull away, Danville brought itself back behind a skilled attack and retook the lead 21-20. Riley had the Cougars back within a point of victory after three more kills made it 25-24.

The Warriors were able to complete the comeback, however, as a service error and a block from Kooper Stone helped finish the set 27-25.

“I think we showed a lot of fight and hustle tonight, I don’t think it was easy on either side of the net. I think they are the best team we have faced so far, they are a really good serving team. We fought hard, we just couldn’t finish the points,” said Cougar coach Jenny Heron.

The Warriors jumped out to a big lead early in the final set with an 8-0 run as Ella Vandermark made herself a force with seven kills, two blocks and an ace in the third set. The Cougars just were not able to rally back this time, as they fell for just the fourth time on the season.

It will be a busy rest of the week for the Cougars as they take on Crawfordsville Tuesday and huge conference matchups with Northview and Sullivan Thursday and Saturday. North is now 12-4 on the season and 4-0 in the WIC.

Riley finished with 11 kills on the night, Phoebe Fouts added two blocks and Mack Mason had a pair of aces in the losing effort. The Warriors finished with three hitters in double figures. Vandermark finished with 12, and 10 a piece for Reese Speckman and Rylee Bumgardner.

Stats

Kills - (N) 25 - Riley 11, Carrell 4, Fouts 4, Mason 3, L. Daigle 2, Osburn 1; (D) 36 - Vandermark12, Speckman 10, Bumgardner 10, Windmiller 8, Stone 4, Chandler 2

Blocks - (N) 2 - Fouts 2; (D) 9 - Vandermark 3, Stone 3, Chandler 2, Bumgardner 1

Aces - (N) 5 - Mason 2, Riley 1, Osburn 1, Stiff 1; (D) 3 - Vandermark 2, Windmiller 1