Northview completes Putnam County double with win over North Putnam

BAINBRIDGE – The Northview Knights visited North Putnam in a showdown of volleyball teams with unblemished records in the Western Indiana Conference Thursday night.

The Knights had played one of the toughest schedules in the state and had dominated other WIC teams they had faced, while the Cougars had continually improved and shown that they are force to be reckoned with.

Thursday, the Knights swept the Cougars 25-18, 25-10, 25-18 using power, depth and constant pressure to take control of the conference race.

The first and third sets were extremely competitive contests, but North could not find a way to break through and dropped to 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Northview is now 16-8 and 6-0 in WIC action with losses to three 4A teams and four state-ranked squads.

“We are right there. We played really well early and were in these matches. This will be something we can really use when we go into practice (Friday),” North Putnam head coach Jenny Heron said.

The Cougars got off to a good start, leading early in the first set at 12-9. Phoebe Fouts was matching the aggressive Knights, compiling three blocks during the early stages while Ashleigh Riley and Saylor Carrell were doing damage from the left side of court.

The match stayed tight until Northview went on a 9-1 run behind Keira Lucas getting free at the net and picking up an ace from behind the line as well. The Cougars could not recover from the run and the Knight’s Morgan Oellig finished the match with an ace for the 25-18 win.

“Phoebe had some big blocks for us tonight. Our passing was good, we just didn’t finish on a few points,” Heron said.

The second set saw the Knights methodically put away North. Northview slowly increased its lead during the match. A pair of aces by Karsyn Buck and some dominating play by Lucas at the net jump started a small run by the Knights as North countered with a pair of Riley kills.

Northview put the game away with a 10-2 run to close with Saylor Clark getting a chance at the net and making the most of it as the Knights won 25-10.

“It was good to see us have some success at the net against one of the best players in the area (Lucas). We battled pretty well,” Heron said.

Northview again had to work hard to get an advantage in the third and final set. Lucas was a force at the net throughout the game, but Fouts, Riley and Carrell were effective at the net again with Riley getting a block at the net to give the Cougars a 10-8 lead.

It would also be the last time the hosts would be in front as Northview pushed ahead at 12-11 and maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the match with Clark taking over at the net.

The Knights took a 15-13 lead, turned it into a 22-15 advantage and, despite several entertaining rallies by both squads, were able to close out the final set, 25-18.

“Alexa Stiff did a lot of things on the back row. Addi Osburn, Callee Riggle and Lexi (Daigle) did a great job. We are right on the brink of taking the next step. We have to just keep pushing to get where we want to be,” Heron said.