The Pampa Lady Harvesters (21-18, 5-7) honored their seniors on Tuesday in the final home game of the season with a win over the Dumas Demonettes.
As if Senior Night wasn’t motivation enough, the Lady Harvesters came out fired up, seeking redemption after being swept by the Demonettes earlier this season. Redemption they found, as not only did they pick up the win over Dumas, but they did it in the form of a sweep: 25-14, 25-10, 25-20.
“Our game in Dumas was kind of like a perfect storm where nothing went our way,” Head Coach Kaylee Samulowitz said. “Tuesday night was the complete opposite. I think the girls went in with a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality, and they were able to execute the game plan really well.
“We were able to get them out of their system for the majority of the game, which limited their offense and led to us being able to score points. It was fun to see all of the smiles and celebrations when we finally put a complete game together against a quality opponent.”
The Lady Harvesters graduate five seniors this year: Haili Newton, Naya Gallegos, Yaritza Saenz, Olivia Owens and Elli Peet. While this is the first year they have had Samulowitz as a head coach, their coach wanted them to make the most of the year and have some fun.
Samulowitz couldn’t pin down one favorite moment with this group of seniors, but said her biggest hope is that she made some sort of impact on the girls.
“There are so many moments from this year that I will never forget,” Samulowitz said. “We’ve had a bunch of conversations about deep topics that have nothing to do with volleyball and more to do with life. My hope is that I have made some kind of positive impact on each of these girls and given them some inspiration that they can take with them in their next chapters.”
The Lady Harvesters wrap up the season on Saturday when they travel to Canyon hoping to play spoiler to a Top 10 team in the state.
“Canyon is a top 10 team, so we know it’s going to be a tough matchup,” Samulowitz said. “However, we have been playing some of our best volleyball the last couple of weeks, so I’m hopeful we can build off of that momentum and go compete on Saturday. Either way it will be our last game, so I hope we can just make the most of each moment and enjoy getting to play this game.”
Stat round-up
Senior Haili Newton had 16 kills, one ace, eight digs, one total block and two assists; Sophomore Addison Bagwell had five kills, seven digs and one assist; Junior Brooklyn Warren had two kills, five digs and one total block; Senior Yaritza Saenz had two digs; Senior Naya Gallegos had seven digs; Junior Madi Barton had one kill, four aces, seven digs, one total block and 18 assists; Senior Olivia Owens had one kill, five aces, three digs, one total block and two assists; Junior Myla Zarate had one kill, 10 digs and four assists; Junior Karsyn Brown had eight kills, two aces, two digs and one total block.
