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Greencastle bounces back with sweep of South Putnam
Having hit a turbulent patch in the schedule over the past week, Greencastle hosted South Putnam looking to rebuild momentum in WIC play after losing two of three matches in the prior eight days.
The two schools, who did not meet during the Putnam County Volleyball Tournament, played several lengthy rallies throughout the evening but the Tiger Cubs had a bit more to give of the offensive end, ending up with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 sweep of the Eagles.
“The girls did a great job of being disciplined and in control,” Greencastle head coach Denise Meyer said. “We didn’t get off to a great start. We were flat at the beginning, creating a few errors, and South Putnam was right there to get a couple of aces on us.
“We had to regroup, refocus and push on, which I was glad to see the girls do. Kylee Owens had an amazing night offensively, but so did Keely Amis, both behind the service line and hitting. On one point, she ran off the court, came back in and blocked a ball to finish a point.”
“We have a couple of injuries and it did make things a little more difficult having to change the rotation,” South Putnam head coach Ellen Houser said. “(Greencastle) has a deeper front row for sure and we only have two-and-a-half strong hitters with several novice hitters.
“We were certainly better when we were playing on the offensive and the scores reflect that. It wasn’t that our back row couldn’t defend because they were definitely doing it, judging by some of the rallies, but we couldn’t always get it together on offense.”
South Putnam started the night on the right foot, taking a 7-4 lead that soon evaporated as Greencastle scored 10 of the next 11 points, the rally driven by Amis behind the service line.
Amis had a pair of aces while the Eagles struggled to get balls back over the net, falling behind 14-8 in the process.
The lead grew to nine at 22-13 with Mackenzie Creviston posting a pair of kills to end lengthy rallies while Amis and Madi Plew each had blocks down the stretch, the former finishing with the set off with a final kill to make it 25-14.
A better start from the Tiger Cubs saw the hosts shoot out to a 5-1 lead behind a pair of Allie Landry points, the gap growing quickly out to 15-7 and a seemingly quick finish.
The Eagles began to dig in, however, taking advantage of misplays from Greencastle while getting periodic kills from the front line led by Olivia Woolums, eventually coming to within a point at 19-18.
A trio of blocks sprang the hosts back to life as Creviston and Owens took control of the net, scoring five of the final eight points between themselves, to drag the Tiger Cubs to a 25-20 win in the second set.
Though on the wrong side of the scoreboard through two sets, Houser said juniors Chlara Pistelli and Danae Cline were doing everything in their power to keep the match close.
“Chlara was a wonder woman out on the court, even sacrificing herself into the bleachers one time,” Houser said. “Danae also worked very hard and I was very happy with what the two of them did.
“I was happy all around with some of the things we did, I would just like it to come together all at once.”
“Cline was everywhere. Everywhere. She was amazing,” Meyer added about the Eagle libero. “Woolums has an arm and she was our focus defensively to be patient with because she’s going to find floor.”
South Putnam got out to a 5-2 lead in the third set but another Amis rally behind the service line saw an 8-7 lead turn into a 13-8 deficit.
Even with additional rotations in the mix as the match went on, Meyer said the team put plenty of pressure on up front.
“We moved Maddie (Landry) into a three-rotation position in the back to give Lindy (Watson) some chances to hit and she did a great job coming off the bench,” Meyer said about the senior front row hitter. “Keely did a great job behind the service line all night to get sets in our favor.”
From there, the two teams slugged it out as the lead never stayed around five points but the Eagles could never get closer than three points the remainder of the set, eventually running out of steam and missing attacks on the final three points as the hosts completed the sweep.