Princeton coach Andy Puck was happy to catch Newman Central Catholic early in the volleyball season.

He knows they have a young team that will only improve by the next time they meet.

The Tigresses caught the Comets this time, scoring a 25-19, 25-14 win in the Three Rivers East season opener Tuesday at Prouty Gymnasium.

“They’re young and very, very talented. Super athletic. They’re just young. Raw,” Puck said. “That’s going to be a very scary team, probably the next time we play them at their place. Debbi’s (Newman coach Kelly) going to have them playing incredibly well at the end of the year.”

Senior libero Camryn Driscoll thought the Tigresses carried over momentum from their second-place finish at the Hall tournament on Saturday.

“We just came off of a pretty well-played tournament so I think we all felt pretty confident,” she said. “It was great to get our first conference game as a win in the books. I feel like we handled the ball very well and we worked through each possession organized and calm regardless of the pass.

“That’s something I think we’ve been hitting pretty hard in practice lately and it’s been nice to see that preparation is translating more into our game.”

The first set was much tighter than the second with the Tigresses leading by no more than six points until taking a 21-14 lead late. The Comets fought back within 22-18, but got no closer as Princeton finished out a 25-19 winner.

Newman took leads of 5-2 and 6-4 early in Game 2 only to have the Tigresses go on a 15-3 run to open up a 20-8 lead on a deep shot by senior striker Kathy Maciczak.

Kennedi Shippert put her number 13 on the board for the Comets to make it 21-13, but the Tigresses scored four of the final five points to take the match.

“We were just able to limit our mistakes, especially in the second set. We made aggressive errors in the first set, which I’m OK with,” Puck said. “And if it would have been a more experienced team they would have taken advantage of them. I knew second set was going to be a lot different. I said no more than three missed serves and we didn’t have any.

“We passed the ball extremely well tonight. If you pass the ball the way we did in serve receive, you can take some chances here and there when you hit and serve. And when you take chances, you’re playing aggressive. We were just able to limit our unforced errors and play aggressive.”

Newman was a bit out of sorts without sophomore hitter Isabella Lanning, who sprained her ankle at practice Monday and was unable to play.

“It was a rough start for us,” Kelly said. “We had to change lineups. One of our starting hitters went down and we had to come in without really knowing what that adjustment was going to be. So it took a little bit for us to get going in the first game. We thought the girls played pretty tentatively, not the style we’re used to playing.

“We saw some spurts of really good play and then they lost their composure and didn’t rebound as well.”

Keighley Davis led the Tigresses (4-3, 1-0) with seven kills with Keely Lawson adding six and Maciczek five. Caroline Keutzer (11 points, two aces) and Maciczek led PHS at the service line with eight points each.

Puck praised the play of junior Danika Burden (two kills) for stepping up and filling a piece of the Tigresses’ puzzle.

“We’ve been looking to fill that opposite position, that right side. She played really well tonight,” Puck said.

The PHS coach also said senior setter Makayla Hecht (19 assists) did a great job spreading the offense around, including back row attacks.

Kelly is hopeful her team can mature like Princeton’s has.

“Their girls were young. They’ve put in the time and now they’re kind of seeing it pay off,” she said. “That’s what we tell our girls. You’re young, keep moving forward. You’ll see some rewards, too.”

Lauren McClain led the Comets (1-3, 0-1) with seven kills, Shippert had five kills and 3.5 blocks and Claire VonHolten had four kills. Brooklyn Smith dished out 11 assists while Lucy Oetting had three assists and 12 digs and Amaya Gomez added six digs.

Puck was recognized before the match for becoming the all-time winningest coach in the PHS program at the end of the regular season last year. This was the first home match since he achieved that milestone.