Lady Cats top Wolf Point in Four, Fall to North Country
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The Harlem Lady Cats have been on the brink of breaking through and finding some wins in the matches they have played. Head Coach Kim Faulkinberry and her Lady Cat team have competed hard for the most part, having a chance to win night in and night out.
That effort hasn’t translated into a lot of wins as of yet, but things are starting to appear as if they are about to change.
Outside of the Lady Cats two matches with North Country, one at the beginning of the season and one last Tuesday. The Lady Cats have been in every match.
This past week Harlem took on North Country, the one team they have struggled mightily against and were defeated in straight sets. The girls bounced back Saturday in Wolf Point and earned a 3-1 win over the Wolves in District 2B action.
“We didn’t play to our potential at all (Against North Country). We struggled with our passing so it is hard to get anything going,” stated Faulkinberry.
Going into a conference match against the Wolves on the road Saturday had the Head Coach a bit concerned after her teams effort earlier in the week, “I am not going to lie, going into the Wolf Point match I wasn’t sure what team was going to take the floor. We didn’t play real well on Tuesday then we had a busy week celebrating Native American Week and Homecoming. “
The Lady Cats got off to the start they wanted to Saturday in Wolf Point. In a back and forth match Harlem had the final say in a 25-21 opening set win. “When the first set started they jumped out on us early, but the Lady Wildcats responded and gained some points by consistent serving and attacking the ball,” said Faulkinberry.
Set number two saw the Wolf Point team respond with a win of their own, 25-23 in a tightly contested set. “We played evenly the entire second set, but came up short. I have really been stressing to the girls to play point for point with any team we play, if we do that we can compete with anyone.”
The third set had the Lady Cats finding their groove once again as they played a complete all around game to win the set 25-20 to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Lady Cats could sense they had the Wolves on the ropes and wanted nothing more than to close out the match in four, and they did just that. Harlem took control early and maintained the advantage before pulling away for a 25-17 fourth set win to take the match 3-1.
“The girls developed the chemistry and played together for all four sets,” said an excited Faulkinberry. “We also had an amazing group of Lady Cat fans that made the trip! Their noise and encouragement really helped the girls settle in.”
Faulkinberry was pleased with her teams fundamental approach in Wolf Point, “We passed the ball better, so the setters had so many options. We finished the match with 47 kills in the match.”
Senior Chloe Messerly led the way with 16 Kills, senior Jessica King recorded 23 Assists with senior Vanise Little adding 15. “I was really happy with our defense as we had 61 digs. (Senior) Alexus Cochran lead the way with 17 digs.”
“We, as a coaching staff, have been waiting for the girls to get a break out win. We have played so many close matches that didn’t go our way. We knew the girls had the physical ability to compete with anyone. They just had to get to the point that they believed they could compete and beat anyone!!! We have Conrad in Harlem on Friday then travel to Poplar on Saturday.”
