We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
The Harlem Lady Cats are starting to build some momentum as the team heads into the second half of the season. Head Coach Kim Faulkinberry, her staff and the players have been working hard all season long and that effort is starting to pay off.
Early in the season the Lady Cats would hang close to teams but serving errors or mistakes passing always seemed to doom them late in the set or match. Faulkinberry was very confident that the girls were starting to come together and that they were sticking with it.
The past couple of weeks has certainly proven the Head Coach right. The Lady Cats added a pair of match wins this week. On Friday the girls were at home to take on the Conrad Cowgirls. The Lady Cats won that match 3-1 in front of a rowdy student body. Saturday the Lady Cats headed east to take on Poplar in a District 2B match, sweeping the Indians 3-0.
The energy in the gym Friday night was incredible as the Lady Cats and Cowgirls met. Harlem took the opening set 25-19 to get the early advantage on the visitors.
The Cowgirls were able to even the match in set number two, scoring the final point of a 25-23 back and forth second set win.
The Lady Cats turned the tides again in set number three, drawing on the hometown fans. Both teams tried early to separate themselves but it wasn't until a late Harlem run that either team was able to separate themselves. The Lady Cats went up 2-1 following a 25-19 set win.
The fourth set was another barn burner and early in the season one that the Lady Cats would struggle with. After going point for point in set number two, it was Harlem that had the final say in a 35-23 fourth set win that gave the Lady Cats a thrilling 3-1 match win in front of a very happy hometown crowd.
"The girls played really well on Friday night vs Conrad. We did a great job of passing to the setter, leading to 37 kills," said Faulkinberry. "The girls played so well, which kept our student section loud and extremely supportive. The gym hasn't been that loud in almost 2 years!"
Senior Chloe Messerly tallied 14 Kills in the win while senior Taya Trottier added seven and senior Jessica King six. King also set the hitters up with a team high 17 Assists. Trottier led the Harlem defense with 16 of the teams 68 Digs in the win.
Saturday the girls were in Poplar for a District 2B Match. Harlem coasted through the first two sets winning 25-13 and 25-12. The Lady Cats were looking for a quick third set as well to close out the match, but Poplar played their best of the match. In the end it was Harlem taking the third set 25-21 to complete the sweep.
"The atmosphere was not quite like it was the night before as the gym was almost completely silent. We had 23 aces and 33 kills," commented Faulkinberry.
Junior Emma Billmayer recorded 12 of the teams Aces in the win. The Lady Cats Attack was pretty even with King slamming home seven Kills and Messerly six for the Lady Cats.
Harlem played the Malta M-ettes on Tuesday (results next week) and will host Glasgow on Saturday.
