Eagles clipped in five sets by Eels

The South Putnam Eagle volleyball team got 20 kills from freshman Elliana Cox and 17 service aces from the team, but fell short in a classic five-set thriller to the Clay City Eels 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 16-14.

Both teams struggled to get into their offense in the early stages. The Eagles got out to a four-point lead early in set one, taking advantage of Clay City errors.

The Eels charged right back behind senior middle hitter Emma Baumgartner. It was back and forth throughout the set. South was able to close it out after a kill from Cox to give them a 25-23 first set win.

In the second, the Eels jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, paced by Baumgarnter’s five kills in the run. South clawed their way back with the help of three kills and an ace from Cox, but would not be able to make up the hill as Lillian Dewey served an ace to give Clay City set number two.

The squads began to get into the flow and started to see some really good volleyball action on the floor. With the help of LJ Switzer and four kills, the Eagles surged out to a four point lead.

Cox got back into the action and stretched the advantage to as much as eight as the hosts were able to hold on to win set three 25-19.

Set four was full of fast pace, incredible action. South looked to be in a good spot, going up five at 21-16 after a pair of aces from Cox.

The Eels would score ten of the last eleven points of the set, including three kills from Dewey to take the set and send it to a final.

South got off to a great start to the final set. Cox picked up three more kills and Madison Gardner picked up her sixth ace of the night. Both teams then seemed to refuse to let the ball hit the floor.

With the Eagles up 14-12 and seemingly on the edge of victory, the Eels had one last run in them, forcing a couple of Eagle errors, and Mallori Bettenbrock ended it with a big block to squeak out a 16-14 set five win for Clay City.

“Clay City is always very scrappy and we knew coming in would be defensively strong. This shows us tonight what we need to do to overcome challenges and to see how we reacted in certain situations,” Eagle head coach Ellen Houser said.

Cox led the attack with 20 kills. Lillian Emmerich added eight to go along with three blocks and Switzer finished with six kills.

In a strong night behind the service line, Gardner and Cox combined for eleven aces. The Eagles totalled 17 aces on the night. They drop to 1-1 on the season. For Clay City, Baumgartner finished with a game high 25 kills. They are now 3-2.

Clay City 23 25 19 25 16 - 3

South Putnam 25 20 25 22 14 - 2

Team Stats

Kills - CC 55 SP 42

Blocks - CC 6 SP 7

Aces - CC 6 SP 17

Service Errors - CC 12 SP 12

Individual Stats

Kills - (SP) Cox 20, Emmerich 8, Switzer 6, Pistelli 4, Gardner 2, Mullin 2; (CC) Baumgartner 25, Dewey 14, Bettenbrock 6, Sinders 5

Blocks - (SP) Emmerich 3, Switzer 2, Cox 1, Gardner 1; (CC) Baumgartner 2, 4 with 1

Aces - (SP) Gardner 6, Cox 5, Wells 4, Holderfield 2; (CC) Riggs 2, 4 with 1