'Lady Cats Continue to Play Well but Fall to Conrad in Tough 5 Set Battle
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Lady Cat junior middle hitter Chloe Messerly scores a point for Harlem in their fourth set win over the Cowgirls.
The Blaine County Journal was made aware of Harlem Schools suspending Athletic Activities until completion of further investigation just prior to going to press. Please note that upcoming contests for this week have been cancelled.
The Harlem Lady Cat Volleyball has been extremely competitive this fall, pushing every opponent to the max. Unfortunately they have been on the short end of those five set thrillers.
This past week the girls were in Conrad to face a solid District 1B opponent. In another gritty performance the Lady Cats left it all on the court, but unfortunately they fell to the Cowgirls in five sets 25-14, 25-23, 17-25, 18-25, 15-12.
The Cowgirls jumped out to an early 11-6 lead but Harlem was able to cut into it. Following a Kill from junior Chloe Messerly and an error from Conrad they were back within one 10-11. Conrad came out fired up after a time out and finished strong to win the first set 25-14.
Harlem battled back in the second set after trailing early 11-6. Messerly scored at the net and the Lady Cats forced Conrad into a tough play cutting the lead to 11-8.
The Cowgirls pushed the lead back to six at 20-14 but Harlem had an answer. Another Messerly point built some momentum but in the end the Cowgirls were able to go up 2-0 with a 25-23 second set win.
The third set was huge for the Lady Cats as they showed a ton of heart with their backs against the wall. Senior Alaynee Hawley scored on a nice Kill and sophomore Myla Rider added a pair of Aces to put Harlem up 11-6 in the third set forcing a Conrad time out.
The Lady Cats doubled up the Cowgirls 18-9 but Conrad still had something to prove as they cut into Harlem's lead. Messerly added another Kill to put Harlem up 22-12 and power them to a 25-17 third set win.
Looking to keep the momentum going, the Lady Cats again came out swinging. After being tied 7-7 early on, the home team put together a little run to take a 9-7 advantage.
The Lady Cats again dug deep and fought back. Junior Taya Trottier made a huge block at the net, senior Brandy Calvert dug up a ball to Messerly who tip it over for a 10-9 Harlem lead.
Senior Alaynee Hawley attacks the net during third set action in Conrad last Tuesday.
The Lady Cats extended their lead to 18-14 after a Trottier serve just caught the back line for an Ace. With the momentum clearly in their favor the Lady Cats evened the match at two sets apiece with a 25-18 fourth set win.
The Cowgirls would end up edging out the Lady Cats in the fifth set 15-12 to win the match 3-2.
The Lady Cats were led on the night by Messerly who slammed home 12 kills in the five set match. Sophomore Jessica King set the hitters up with 20 Kills while Calvert set the defense with 12 digs in the match. Hawley served up six Aces in the contest.
Harlem was scheduled to host the Cowgirls this Thursday but Conrad Schools have been shutdown for athletics for 14 days due to COVID-19. They will head to Wolf Point this Saturday to face the Wolves.
