Photos courtesy of Cartershots

After four years away from the sidelines, Head Coach Kaylee Samulowitz has taken the reins of the Pampa Lady Harvesters volleyball team as their season travels to Burkburnett for their first tournament of the 2026 season. 

Samulowitz was hired back in the spring and has been working diligently with her team through the summer. 

“I think (they’ve responded) really well. I know a lot of them since I’ve been [teaching] here,” Samulowitz said. “So I know a lot of them were excited about the change and the girls have bought in really quickly to what I’m trying to do with the program. We’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve seen a lot of positivity and success. It’s been a lot of fun to work with them for the last few months.” 

Samulowitz has been encouraging the girls to take chances and be aggressive when making decisions on the court.

“I’m really pushing the girls to get outside of their comfort zone and see what they are capable of. They were scared to make mistakes and I’m trying to get that mindset changed,” Samulowitz said. “I want them, especially early in the season, to make mistakes and make aggressive errors and see what they are capable of doing.” 

Despite dropping their first two games in Lubbock against Monterrey and Odessa, Samulowitz saw some areas needing improvement but also some encouraging flashes and the squad buying in.

“We talked about that (being aggressive) last night after our game,” Samulowitz said. “If you hit a ball 100 feet out of bounds, but you’re going for it and trying accomplish something we’ve been working on, then I’m cool with that. We’re trying to eliminate timid errors and playing not to lose and trying to get them to be more aggressive and play to win.”

Kaylee Samulowitz

The Lady Harvesters return 10 starters from last year’s team, including outside hitter Senior Haili Newton, who is primed to have a break-out year. 

“(Senior) Haili Newton is our returning outside hitter, we are looking for her to have a really successful year,” Samulowitz said. “She was a unanimous captain vote. She’s a great leader for us and obviously her skills are very, very good. I think she’s going to have a great year."

The Lady Harvesters have many other familiar faces on the team, including Seniors Elli Peet, Naya Gallegos, Olivia Owens and Yaritz Saenz. But they also have some younger players ready to make an impact.

“Junior Madi Barton will be setting for us this year,” Samulowitz said. “(Sophomore) Addi Bagwell is a returning starter, her and (Junior) Karsyn Brown will be playing middle for us. They were in different positions last year than I have them this year. But we are returning 10 varsity players. We only added one to that group. We have a lot of experience.”

One of the new additions to the team will be multi-sport athlete Junior Brooklyn Warren.

“If you know Brooklyn, she is a little spitfire,” Samulowitz said. “She is competitive. She brings energy all the time. She’s been a much-needed spark for this team. She brings a lot of energy and fun. When she gets on the court, she is playing to win all of the time. Which I love. She is a fun one to coach.”

Being in an eight-team district does present limitations for non-district scheduling regardless of the sport, but the Lady Harvesters will be playing in three tournaments as they ramp up for the District schedule. 

“We have three big tournaments,” Samulowitz said. “We travel the next three weekends to go to Burkburnett, at Lubbock-Cooper and then the Denver City Tournament. You never really know what you’re going to see at tournaments. But we get a lot of matches at tournaments at each one of those. That’ll be good for us to work on things we need to work on in game situations. 

Along with those tournaments, the Lady Harvesters will play non-district matches against Bushland, San Jacinto, Dalhart and Plainview.

“So it’s a mixture of some smaller schools and some bigger schools,” Samulowitz said. “But if you look at our district there is a variety of talent when you look from team to team. We’re just trying to get experienced playing teams that are a little more advanced and teams that are not. Our non-district schedule gives us a little bit of both.”

The Lady Harvesters District, 4-4A, includes West Plains, Randall, Canyon, Hereford, Dumas, Perryton and Borger. One of the toughest districts in 4A.

“All three Canyon schools are always going to be solid teams,” Samulowitz said. “Hereford and Dumas are historically great volleyball programs, they are always in the mix. You’ve got Borger and Perryton, who are always improving and you never know what you’re going to get. Perryton just beat Caprock, which is big for them. There’s no guaranteed or easy wins in our District.”

Samulowitz was asked to finish the sentence “This season will be a success if…..” as the final question. Obviously the goal is always to make the playoffs, but it’s also about making an impact on these student-athletes on and off the court.

“When you’re looking (record-wise), we want to make the playoffs,” Samulowitz said. “That’s the ultimate goal. If we do that, it counts as a success. But at the same time, sports have the opportunity to make such a big impact.

“If I can make a positive impact on one girl in the program or on the team, then to me that’s a success That’s why I took this job; to build those relationships and make that impact on each of those girls. It sounds cliche but if I make an impact on one of their lives, I was put here for that reason.”

The Lady Harvesters first home game will be next Monday, Aug. 18, when they host Bushland. Varsity tentatively plays at 7 p.m.