Putnam County came out of the gate strong, playing for its first regional title since 2014 by winning the first set of the Class 1A Putnam County Regional championship, but Orion responded with overwhelming serving and power hitting as the Chargers came away with a 26-28, 25-11, 25-10 victory Thursday in Granville.

With the crowd going crazy for the hometown Panthers, Putnam County surged to an 8-1 lead as the Chargers committed two errors right away.

After a Mallory Pronschinske kill, Putnam County benefited from an Orion error and then a block from Myah Richardson for a 4-1 lead.

Two more Orion errors, then an ace from Kennedy Holocker that went along with a touch shot from Richardson, and the Panthers were ahead 8-1.

The Chargers slowly started to creep back into the mix as Pronschinske served up three consecutive aces to cut the Putnam County lead to 8-5.

Richardson used a touch shot again to stop the run, but Ellie Kupp blasted a kill and Sadie Appel picked up a block to make it 9-7.

Moments later, Richardson, who was seeing just about every hole in the Orion defense, used another quick shot to give the Panthers an 11-8 lead.

As the set continued, Richardson used two more quick shots as Orion was right on the Panthers’ heels at 15-14.

With the score tied at 19, Putnam County didn’t panic as Britney Trinidad found a spot in the defense as did Richardson before a block from Trinidad pushed the lead for the Panthers to 22-19.

Orion stormed back and had three set points, but the Panthers continued to have an answer and then turned the tables with an ace from Holocker and then a mishit from Pronschinske to take the first set 28-26.

“We came out with a ton of adrenaline and were ready to play,” Putnam County coach Amy Bell said. “We were doing a lot of great things, mixing up our shots, playing great defense, and showing we were there to fight.”

Unfortunately for Putnam County, the momentum did not last long as the Chargers took over quickly with power and serving from that point on.

Four early errors by the Panthers helped give Orion a 5-1 lead. Not long after, Claire Haars split defenders as did Appel before Haars served up an ace for a 9-3 advantage.

Orion was starting to play well at the net with Appel and Knupp combining for a block before another ace from Haars.

PC’s Chloe Parcher found a hole in the corner, but the excitement was short-lived as the Panthers had a service error.

Knupp and company went back to work with three more aces and a kill from Ellie Mielke as the lead grew to 17-4.

Trinidad picked up an ace for the Panthers, but a Mielke touch shot set up yet another ace, this time from Delaney Tapscott.

A hit from Trinidad sailed wide, and then a cross-court kill from Pronschinske gave the Chargers a 25-11 second-set victory.

“I told the girls to settle in and play their game,” Orion coach Sydney Adams said. “We just had to go out there and play with intention. Every pass, every set and every swing, and once we did that, we were able to get rolling.”

The final set was more of the same for the Panthers, who were quickly down 3-0 with a dink and a kill from Pronschinske.

After a Chargers’ service error, Orion got right back into the swing of things after a PC error as Knupp and Appel got a block.

After a Richardson kill cut the Panthers’ deficit to 6-3, Haars had a quick shot over the net, and a few points later, a kill down the line from Mielke made it 11-5 Chargers.

Putnam County fought back as Holocker picked up a much-needed kill, and then two Chargers’ errors made it 11-8.

But once again, the Chargers came out firing with big kills from Pronschinske and Knupp and then a big cross-court shot from Haars as the lead grew to 16-9.

Two points later, after a Putnam County timeout, Knupp put down a kill, then a shot sailed long for Richardson, and the Panthers were called for four hits as Orion’s lead grew to 19-10.

Haars served up back-to-back aces, and Appel added a kill before another timeout for the Panthers.

But immediately, Haars had an ace, and two points later, Haars served another ace for the 25-10 third set victory.

“(Orion) had some tough servers,” Bell said. “Unfortunately, we just kind of crashed a little bit, and they kept firing and we became a little less aggressive, but we have a young team and a lot of talent coming back with some good experience here tonight.”

For the Panthers, Richardson led with eight kills and 13 digs. Sarah Wiesbrock had 22 digs, while Trinidad added 20 and Holocker 14.

Orion was led by Haars with six aces and 24 assists, while Mielke had 12 kills to go along with 25 digs from Abbi Arnold.

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Putnam County's Britney Trinidad misses a return against Orion during the Class 1A Regional final on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 at Putnam County High School. (Scott Anderson)