Fieldcrest dominates third set to top Putnam County

GRANVILLE – After dropping a close second set to Putnam County, the Fieldcrest volleyball team discussed what adjustments it had to make before the decisive third set.

“It was a talk about what needs to happen and what we need to do and what we need from each other as a team to have a chance, because we were kind of in a black hole, I think, at that moment where we weren’t playing well,” Fieldcrest coach Cathy Sanders said.

Then the Knights executed those adjustments.

Fieldcrest rattled off the first 14 points of the third set and cruised the rest of the way to secure a 25-19, 22-25, 25-5 nonconference victory at R.M. Germano Gymnasium.

“We knew what we had to do, and we did it, covering our hitters and covering our blockers,” Fieldcrest junior Kaitlyn White said. “We just came out stronger.”

Fieldcrest middle hitter Kaylin Rients put down on a kill on a set from White on the first volley of the third set before White rattled off 13 points at the service line.

White served three aces during the surge, while Rients put down three more kills, Allie Wiesenhofer had a kill, Ashlyn May had a block, and the Panthers committed four errors.

“I felt like after the first couple serves of the run and after we had a really good hit, that really boosted our energy up, and we knew that we could take it,” White said.

The Knights pushed their lead to 16-1, 18-2 and 24-3 before finishing off the match with a tip by Wiesenhofer.

“The third set, we made some plays and we earned the points instead of relying on Putnam to make errors,” Sanders said. “Once we started earning points, we got ourselves into a better groove than the first two sets.

“I think that made all the difference.”

Putnam County coach Amy Bell called both of her timeouts during the first 17 points, but the Panthers couldn’t change the momentum.

“The third set we just fell apart,” Bell said. “We dug ourselves a big hole, and that’s something that needs to be fixed that we’ve struggled with this year. Then mentally we collapsed. I think we beat ourselves tonight. Fieldcrest played well. They have some good hitters and served well, but we got in our heads and then really struggled to get out of it.”

In the first set after hitting the ball out on the first volley, the Knights put down four consecutive kills to take a 4-1 lead and extended their lead to as many as seven points before PC rallied within three at 12-9.

White put down three kills in a row, Wiesenhofer served an ace, and PC made an error to help Fieldcrest get back on track up 17-9.

The Panthers rallied a few more times, but never got closer than three.

The second set was tight throughout with 11 ties. Fieldcrest led 18-14 before a lift started a five-point Panther run that included two aces by Maggie Richetta. A rotation error ended PC’s surge, but the Panthers got a kill from Ava Hatton for the sideout and a 21-19 lead.

A service error and a PC hitting error tied it at 21 before back-to-back Fieldcrest miscues, a block by Maggie Spratt and another Knight error finished the set.

“The second set we really came out and connected,” Bell said. “We had lots of hitters connecting. We played aggressively. We played some great team defense tonight. We had solid blocks at the net, and we were digging everything up. When we sent an aggressive ball, they struggled.”

The Knights (6-0) had a balanced offense with eight kills by Rients, seven kills each by Wiesenhofer and Zoey Dye and six from White, who also had 18 assists. Wiesenhofer had a team-high 17 digs.

For PC (3-4), Richetta had six kills, while Tori Balma, Hatton and Spratt had three each. Balma had 10 assists, and Hatton had 14 digs.