Eels add another Putnam County win with sweep of Clovers

CLOVERDALE — In the midst of a heavy schedule, Cloverdale hosted the Clay City Eels in a non-conference high school volleyball game on Tuesday night.

The Clovers fell in three sets 25-13, 26-24, 25-14 to the Eels after playing two games on Saturday and playing on Monday night.

“We’ve been changing our rotations a little bit, but we just haven’t had much practice to work on things with the schedule,” Cloverdale head coach Paige Glassburn said.

The Clovers battled in the first two sets, particularly in the second, but it was not enough for the victory as Cloverdale fell to 1-5 on the season after picking up its first win over the weekend against Evansville Bosse in the Dugger Invitational.

“Getting that win really helped our confidence and showed us some things,” Glassburn said.

Clay City used a late run in the first set to pull away. The Eels led 11-8 when they went on a 12-1 run to put away the Clovers, taking a 23-9 lead. Three-straight aces by Callee Smith rallied the Clovers a little, but it was not enough, and Clay City triumphed 25-13 to take a 1-0 lead.

The Clovers were more aggressive and came out strong against the Eels in the second set.

Putting pressure on the Eels, Cloverdale forced a variety of Clay City errors and led 15-7, forcing an Eel timeout.

Cloverdale had some problems with errors of its own after taking the lead. Clay City took advantage and eventually tied the score at 19-19, setting up a wild finish.

Falling behind 20-19, Paisley Meyerrose had a back row kill to tie the score at 20-20 and the teams battled to a 24-24 tie before a crazy rally involving two big Cloverdale digs and an amazing off-the-court save by Clay City eventually led to the Eels getting the point and finishing the Clovers off with an ace for the 26-24 victory.

“Paisley this year and Paisley last year is like night and day. When she gets going and plays from the back row like she did, she plays really well,” Glassburn said.

Down 2-0 to the Eels, Cloverdale could not get any momentum in the third set after losing the heartbreaking second one.

Clay City jumped out to 5-1 lead and despite a Gracie Lee kill and two late points by Smith, the Clovers came up short 25-14 and the match 3-0.

“Callee is coming on. She is getting better at the net. It was good to see what she was doing tonight,” Glassburn said.

The Clovers hope to get some practice time to work on the new rotations and improve according to Glassburn.

“We preach consistency. We tell the girls that you have to play for all 25 points. We let (Clay City) get back in that second set and we should have finished,” Glassburn said.