The Pampa Lady Harvesters (3-4) went 3-2 at the Burkburnett Tournament over the weekend. They knocked off Jacksboro (25-7, 25-18), Northside (25-20, 25-11) and Christ Academy (25-8, 25-16) to go 3-0 on Friday, but fell to Whitesboro (24-26, 6-25) and Lindsay (8-25, 25-23, 16-25) on Saturday.
Even though the Lady Harvesters dropped their last two matches, Head Coach Kaylee Samulowitz was proud of the effort the team showed over the weekend.
“I saw a ton of grit and perseverance from the girls,” Samulowitz said. “After losing two really tough sets against Whitesboro and Lindsay, the girls were down 21-14 and came back to take a set off of a really talented Lindsay team. I was proud of the way they worked together to find a way to win, even when it would've been easy to call it quits.”
The Lady Harvesters struggled with their serve receiving this weekend, which will be the focus in practice as they go through the week.
Senior Haili Newton had three aces and 40 kills over the five matches through the course of the weekend. Defensively she had 30 digs, one solo block and three block assists.
Haili Newton (Photo courtesy of Cartershots)
“Haili Newton had a really great tournament,” Samulowitz said. “She struggled in our opening day matches against Monterey and Odessa, then came out on fire at the Burkburnett tournament. She finished the weekend leading the team in kills, digs, and hitting percentage. It was awesome to see her playing at a really high level.”
The Lady Harvesters return to action Tuesday evening when they host Bushland. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at McNeely Field House.
“Obviously Bushland is a historically great program,” Samulowitz said. “It will be great experience for our girls to see a team at the same or higher caliber as the top teams in our district. The girls have been working hard since August 1st, so I'm excited for the community to get to come out and watch them compete against a really good team.”
Stat Roundup
Senior Haili Newton had 40 kills, three aces, a solo block, three assisted blocks and 30 digs; Junior Brooklyn Warren had 20 kills, three aces and 15 digs; Senior Yaritza Saenz had two aces and 16 digs; Junior Madi Barton had seven aces, four kills, a block assist and 16 digs; Senior Olivia Owens had nine aces, 13 kills, five digs and one block assist; Junior Myla Zarate had 30 digs; Junior Karsyn Brown had six aces, 22 kills, eight digs, one solo block and five block assists; Junior Kinley Duke had two aces, three kills, eight digs and one block assist; Senior Elli Peet had four kills, one block assist and two digs; Senior Naya Gallegos had two aces and nine digs; Sophomore Emme Hill had three kills, one block assist and one dig.