Eagles sweep Cougars to remain unbeaten in WIC play

BAINBRIDGE — The South Putnam Eagle volleyball team used a balanced approach and took advantage of some errors by the host North Putnam Cougars to win a Western Indiana Conference matchup 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 on Thursday night.

South found scoring from a variety of players and was able to play solid volleyball to ensure that the Putnam County Paddle would return down U.S. 231; the victory improved its record to 6-4 on the season, remaining undefeated in conference play at 3-0.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 2-8 and 0-2 in the WIC.

“The girls all brought fire and enthusiasm. They kept up their energy all game long. I am really proud of this team,” South Putnam head coach Ellen Houser said.

The first set typified a county rivalry game. Both teams were emotional and intense, but at times nervous and struggling with consistency. There were 47 total points scored in the set and 26 of them were on errors.

The errors did not diminish the competitiveness of the two squads.

The biggest lead of the set was South Putnam at 19-14, but the Cougars rallied to take a 20-19 lead before succumbing to the Eagles as Chlara Pistelli scored two straight points on a kill and an ace and three of the final four points for the Eagles coming on Cougar errors set the final margin at 25-22.

“I thought South Putnam did a good job, they competed and showed a lot of fight for each other. We just can’t keep erring at key times, even at other times. We have to get better,” North Putnam head coach Jenny Heron said.

The second set was as competitive, but completely different in the type of game. The Eagles exploded out of the gate. Elliana Cox sparked South in the early going as the freshman had five points with three via service aces from behind the line to establish a 15-3 lead.

North would not go away as it made a run of its own.

Melanie Davies kick started the Cougar comeback with a pair of aces before Morgan Berry had a pair of aces late, paired with Mack Mason getting a kill, as part of a 15-6 run for North, cutting the margin to 21-18.

LJ Switzer had a dink and Danae Cline added backrow points to close out the Cougars 25-19 and take a commanding 2-0 lead.

“We kept our composure, and the girls were really together. This group is really led by our seniors,” Houser said of seniors Madison Gardner, Lillian Emmerich, Cline and Pistelli.

North took an early lead in the third set. A Bailey Pride kill gave the Cougars a 10-5 lead that they stretched to 15-9 later in the set.

Cox got hot again with a kill and a dink for the Eagles. After evening the set at 16-16, Switzer took over for South.

The junior had two straight kills and then a third one to give South a 21-17 lead.

North cut the lead to 21-19 but would get no closer as Gardner had a kill and the Cougars errors caught up with them again as the final two Eagle points would come on two service errors setting the final score at 25-22.

“We have things we have to work on. We just have to improve and play together better,” Heron said.

The Eagles got points from a variety of players on the night with Switzer having a breakout game according to her coach.

“LJ has been improving, she really broke out tonight and played well,” Houser said.