Putnam County and Hall went nearly point for point throughout their three set battle Monday in Spring Valley, but the Panthers came away with a 26-28, 25-17, 25-22 nonconference victory over the Red Devils.

After splitting the first two sets, Putnam County took an early 3-0 lead in the third behind kills from Kennedy Holocker and Myah Richardson.

Two points later, Richardson added another big kill to go along with a shot by Ella Pyszka that hit off the Hall defenders for a 5-1 lead.

The Red Devils battled back as Kaitlyn Coutts and Natalia Zamora combined for a block. After a Putnam County mishit, Caroline Morris found a hole in the middle of the defense as Hall trimmed the deficit to 6-5.

Putnam County hit a shot off the net that fell for a point and then Pyszka served up an ace to go along with a shot that went wide from Morris as the Panthers lead grew to 12-6.

“Putnam County has really improved since the summer when we saw them,” Hall coach Carolyn Foster said. “They started tipping in that third set a little more and the ball rolled off the net and we just weren’t in position to get the ball, but I feel like we are so close to putting everything together.”

Charlie Pellegrini blasted a shot down the line for Hall, but another quick tip from Richardson made it 13-7 Panthers.

A kill from Coutts split the defenders, but the Panthers responded with a 4-0 run led by a big cross court kill from Richardson and then a pair of mishits from the Red Devils.

Hall made it a one-point deficit at 22-21 behind a couple of Panther errors, but Putnam County responded with an ace from Britney Trinidad and a couple Hall errors as Putnam County took the deciding third set 25-22.

“Our defense was fabulous all night,” Putnam County coach Amy Bell said. “We were talking and moving and worked really hard on reading. Hall was hitting us and we made some adjustments to the front row blocking and the back row really helped us out.”

In the first set, it was nearly point for point the whole way. Richardson tied the game at 5 with a big kill and moments after that a shot from Pyszka sailed long, tying the game at 6.

With the game tied at 10, Richardson once again scored a point, but after two Panther errors, the Red Devils retook the lead 12-11.

With the game tied at 13, Putnam County went a 5-0 run that included an ace from Holocker and ended with a error before a tip from Emma McCook and a kill from Morris made it 17-16 Putnam County.

The teams went back and forth and after a pair of Panther errors, the game was tied at 21.

Hall took the lead with a kill from Pellegrini and an ace from McCook made it 23-21. But the Panthers responded with a much needed kill from Trinidad and then after a Hall error the game was tied at 23.

With the game tied at 26, PC sent a shot into the net on back-to-back plays to gaie the Red Devils a 28-26 first set victory.

With the second set tied at 3, Coutts picked up the kill to put Hall back in front 4-3. Later on in the set, Pellegrini got a stuff at the net as well as a kill as the Red Devils went ahead 9-8.

But with the Hall leading 12-11, the Panthers went on a 7-0 run to take command. The run got started with a combined block from Richardson and Chloe Parcher.

After a Red Devil shot sailed into the net, Richardson hit a tip shot and Sarah Wiesbrock served up an ace to give Putnam County an 18-12 advantage.

A tip from Morris ended the run, but two plays later, Pyszka got a kill and Richardson an ace as the Panthers’ lead grew to 22-15.

Pellegrini’s shot trickled off the net, but Brooklin Brown picked up a big dig, which led to Alyvia Wachowiak’s shot falling just over the net to give the Panthers the 25-17 second set victory.

For the Panthers, Richarsdon led the way with 18 kills, 11 assists and 16 digs, while Holocker added 21 digs to go along with 20 assists from Trinidad.

For Hall, Coutts led with 12 kills, while McCook had 28 assists to go along with 15 digs from Pellegrini. Coutts and Evelyn Bryant also had 13 digs each.