GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central defeated county rival New Palestine (7-3) in a big conference clash Thursday, snatching three sets out of four and pushing them ahead for the battle against the rest of their conference opponents.
The Cougars (8-0) struck first in the first set, but New Palestine immediately bit back. The Dragons matched Greenfield-Central point-for-point and battled their opponents to an 8-9 score. But with the Dragons offset by a quick string of penalties, the Cougars were given the edge they needed to slowly creep ahead of their opponent on the scoreboard and gain the lead.
Led by sophomores Kenley Carpenter and Makayla Price, Greenfield-Central closed out the first set of the match 25-14. Carpenter racked up 9 kills, while Price had 12 on the night. Leading outside attacker Ava Antic was pulled because of a minor injury, and her replacement, Morgan Grigsby, dished out 11 kills for the match.
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New Pal took off with an aggressive start in the second set, taking the Cougars by surprise. But Greenfield-Central quickly recovered and matched their pace until the board read 12-12. Greenfield-Central regained ground and took the second set 25-17.
The third set was filled with several lengthy and heated exchanges as New Palestine retaliated on the scoreboard. Lydia Jones — scoring 15 kills for the match — and Sydney Robertson — with 34 assists Thursday — led the Dragons through a close battle to win the set 25-23.
The Cougars reasserted control of the court in set four, but the Dragons didn’t make it easy for them. After another hard-fought set, the Cougars bested New Palestine 25-17, claiming the set and the match.
New Palestine was halted by Greenfield’s strong outside blocking game and found themselves struggling to find the same rhythm they’ve enjoyed in previous matches this season, New Palestine head coach Kelli Whitaker said.
“Greenfield’s blocks kind of intimidated us,” Whitaker said. “It was hard for us to find some positives tonight.”
The pressure is always high in a county rivalry match, but her team will definitely need training to improve their blocking game if they want to come back from this defeat.
Greenfield-Central did well bouncing back from the loss of the third set and swiftly got the middle blockers relieving the stress on the pen players, helping the Cougars to return their usual offensive pressure, said Greenfield-Central head coach Travis Fuller.
Fuller added that all 16 players in his starting lineup have had a chance to show what they’re made of this season. His said his hat is off to Morgan Grigsby, who proved herself on the court when one of their top scorers was forced to the bench.
“You really don’t want to sit a kid in a conference match, but for these guys it’s the next person up,” Fuller said. “Morgan Grigsby hasn’t hit like that since her sophomore year. She did an incredible job tonight, stepping up in that position.”
The Cougars, however, will need to bolster their defensive efforts pushing forward, Fuller said. It’s nice going 2-0 into conference, but they’ll need to keep up the consistency moving into next week, he said.
“It’s a pretty special start,” he said. “We’ll keep these guys motivated, and tonight will help them.”
