Cougars drop first set but claim 3-1 win over Clovers

CLOVERDALE — The North Putnam Cougar volleyball team lost the first set, but rallied to take the next three as they defeated the Cloverdale Clovers 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-13.

The improving Clover squad hung close in the early stages and took a lead 9-8 after a kill by Paisley Meyerrose.

The Cougars then went on a mini run to take a five-point advantage, including a kill from Mack Mason.

Cloverdale battled right back, evening the set at 20-20 after a Keely McSwine finish. The teams then traded points.

After the Cougars’ Tori Detro service ace had it tied at 23-23, the Clovers took the last two points and the opening set 25-23.

North Putnam came out on fire in the second set, scoring the first six and 10 of the first 11. Melanie Davies had a pair of aces in the scoring spurt.

While Cloverdale was never able to recover from the deficit, the Clovers made a five-point run late in the set.

It would be too little, too late as the Cougars closed it out 25-16 to even up the match.

The Cougars took an early lead in the third. Cloverdale continued to hang around, winning a lot of the long rallies.

The Clovers were down seven when they scored six in a row and all of a sudden, it was a one point set.

North’s Mack Mason was able to come up with big service aces and a kill to help pull out the 25-20 set two victory.

The fourth set featured another quick start for the Cougars, jumping out to an 8-1 advantage, a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the match. There was just too much offense from North and they would go on to the four set victory, taking the final set 25-13. “You can see the improvement in Cloverdale. We did a better job tonight in getting our serves in and took advantage of big runs,” Cougar coach Rob Zajdel said.

The Cougars picked up their sixth win on the season. Melanie Davies with 14 kills led the offense on the night. Morgan Berry and Mack Mason each had seven. Tori Detro and Hailee Daigle each had five aces on the night, while North had 15 in total. Detro and Maylee Mason each with a block.

Keely McSwine headed up the Clover attack with eight kills. Callee Smith and Paisley Meyerrose each had six. Smith had three aces, while Jimma Harrison added two. Smith added a block to her stat total.

“We played well tonight. We had a lot of great digs from our back row and I thought we were able to get into our offense.” said Clover coach Paige Glassburn. The Clovers will next travel to Edgewood on Tuesday.

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Kills - (NP) Davies 14, Berry 7, Mack Mason 7, Maylee Mason 5, Detro 4, Pride 1; (CL) McSwine 8, Smith 6, P. Meyerrose 6, Neese 1, Wynia 1, Frye 1

Blocks - (NP) Detro 1, Maylee Mason 1; (CL) Smith 1

Aces - (NP) Detro 4, Daigle 4, Davies 3, Mack Mason 3, Maylee Mason 1; (CL) Smith 3, Harrison 2, P. Meyerrose 1