The Pampa Lady Harvesters (18-9) out-lasted the Caprock Lady Horns on Saturday in five sets (25-16, 17-25, 25-15, 18-25, 15-4).
Pampa and Caprock traded victories in each set to tie the match 2-2 before the Lady Harvesters dominated the fifth set 15-4 to win the match.
“Going into the fifth set I told the girls this was an opportunity to get experience in a fifth-set situation,” Head Coach Kaylee Samulowitz said. “These games, yes we want to win them, but the purpose is to prepare us for district coming up in two weeks. Telling them it wasn’t a ‘must-win’ situation and that it was a ‘must-learn’ situation kind of took the pressure off. They went out there, played with confidence and won it.”
The Lady Harvesters jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set with kills from junior Hallie Hawthorne, freshmen Macie Hawthorne and junior Mikalie Floyd. H. Hawthorne, senior Haley Fossett and freshmen Mazi Smith continued to pour on points to extend the lead to 15-10.
The Lady Harvesters started to pull away with a 5-2 run with a pair of aces from M. Hawthorne and a kill from Floyd. Smith put the exclamation point on the first set with a kill at 25-16.
“She (Macie Hawthorne) served well today,” Samulowitz said. “She had four aces and I told the girls after the game that our serving wins us games. She (Macie) was also super-aggressive offensively today. She had five kills as a setter today. She had a really good game and everybody can tell she gets better each week.”
After dropping the second set 25-17, the Lady Harvesters jumped out to a 8-2 lead with aces from Fossett, junior Valeri Anguiano and a kill from Hawthorne. The Lady Harvesters continued to hold off the Lady Horns and capitalized on Caprock mistakes as they took a 19-13 lead. The Lady Harvesters went on a 6-2 run that included a 5-0 stretch with Anguiano on the serve as they went on to win the third set 25-15.
Caprock matched the Lady Harvesters in the fourth set and sent the match to a pivotal fifth set. Smith, Floyd and M. Hawthorne led the Lady Harvesters to a 5-2 lead. H. Hawthorne added two more kills to extend the lead to 9-3. Floyd added an ace to give Pampa the 11-3 lead before H. Hawthorne poured on two more kills. The defensive front of junior Ariel Lacher and Smith blocked the game point and Pampa took the fifth set 15-4 to win the match.
The Lady Harvesters host Childress on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on a night where they will celebrate their lone senior, Haley Fossett.
“They (Childress) keep getting better and better,” Samulowitz said. “They only lost one senior last year. They’ve improved as the season went on. They’ll be a good test for us. It’s Senior Night for Haley.”
Stat roundup
Haley Fossett had six kills, two aces, one assist and 16 digs; Valeri Anguiano had an assist, two aces and 23 digs; Macie Hawthorne had five kills, four aces, 33 assists and eight digs; Mikalie Floyd had 15 kills, an ace and 10 digs; Ariel Lacher had one kill, one assist and 10 digs; Mazi Smith had nine kills and two aces; Hallie Hawthorne had six kills, three aces, and six digs; Reagan Dyer had an assist and three digs.
