The Pampa Lady Harvesters (19-18, 3-7) hosted the Hereford Lady Whitefaces on Tuesday.
The Lady Harvesters fell to Hereford in four sets (18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 22-25), all but eliminating playoff hopes, but they were able to take one off Hereford.
“I thought our girls actually played really hard and competed well,” Head Coach Kaylee Samulowitz said. “It was unfortunate that the final score didn’t fall our way, but I was really proud of their tenacity.
“When you look at the stats, we actually did everything we needed to do to get a win, but I think it came down to a lack of experience in big games like that. We are going to keep working on raising that expectation so next time we come out on top of a close match.”
Prior to the match, the Lady Harvesters took a moment to recognize the future Lady Harvesters with Optimist Night.
“It was a great night hosting our Optimist volleyball players,” Samulowitz said. “You can’t build a program without investing in kids, so that has been and will continue to be a huge focus of mine. Starting them young and seeing them learn to love the game is so rewarding as a coach. Can’t wait to coach some of those same kids in McNeely a few years down the road.”
Speaking of young Lady Harvesters, sophomore Emme Hill has been on the varsity squad recently. Samulowitz said the young player has shown the future of the program has promise.
“Emme has played most of the season on JV, but she played with us in a few
tournaments and recently got pulled up to varsity due to some injuries,” Samulowitz said. “She is such a great player and has positively contributed in every match she has played in. Emme will be a big part of our lineup next year, so it’s been great to see her get some quality varsity reps recently. I’m excited for her future in our program.”
The Lady Harvesters return to action on Saturday when they travel to Perryton. The Lady Harvesters swept the Rangerettes the last time these teams squared off, but Samulowitz said Perryton is always a tough place to play.
“Perryton is always a tough place to play,” Samulowitz said. “Hopefully we can continue curing our weekend woes like we did last week in Borger. We are focusing on our side of the net this week in practice. If we can limit our errors and keep the momentum on our side, I’m hopeful we will come home with another district win.”
Stat Round-Up
Senior Naya Gallegos had one ace and 17 digs; Senior Haili Newton had 11 kills, one ace, 24 digs and three assists; Junior Madi Barton had two kills, one ace, 10 digs and 39 assists; Senior Olivia Owens had seven kills, two aces, five digs and one total block; Junior Myla Zarate had one kill, 23 digs and one assist; Sophomore Addison Bagwell had eight kills, 32 digs, two total blocks and one assist; Junior Karsyn Brown had 14 kills, eight digs, five total blocks and one assist; Junior Brooklyn Warren had seven kills, nine digs and two total blocks.
