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Sulphur Spring’s Peyton Hammack sets a pass in the Lady Cats 3-0 win over Mount Pleasant Tuesday. Hammack finished the game with 33 of the teams 36 assists, while also racking up six digs, three kills and two blocks. Staff photo by Tyler Lennon
Improve to 5-2 in district
The Sulphur Springs Lady Cats hosted Mount Pleasant Tuesday, looking to complete their series sweep against the Lady Tigers. The Lady Cats beat Mount Pleasant on the road in straight sets in their first matchup back on Friday, Sept. 10.
Sulphur Springs got off to a bit of a slow start in Tuesday’s opening set, not quite being able to fire on all cylinders. Trailing 13- 11, it was senior Brooklynn Burnside who gave the Lady Cats three consecutive points on kills to take a 14-13 lead.
Sulphur Springs continued to feed Burnside the ball, as she would go on to score on three consecutive plays again, pushing their lead to 17-14. Seniors Kaslyn Hurley, Myssiah Dugan and Peyton Hammack helped put the set away with kills in the final few possessions, as the Lady Cats took the opening set by a close score of 25-22.
Burnside continued her strong play in the second set, picking up three kills in the first few possessions, the third of which put Sulphur Springs ahead 9-8. They never trailed again in the set, as they were able to use the momentum to quickly create some separation from the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Cats built their lead as big as 18-11, but Mount Pleasant refused to go down easy. After a strong run from the Lady Tigers, Sulphur Springs coach Bailey Dorner was forced to call a timeout with their lead cut to 19-17.
The timeout did wonders for the Lady Cats, as they were able to slow down Mount Pleasant’s momentum and hold their lead intact. A block from junior Addisyn Wall helped put things away, as Sulphur Springs won the set 25-19.
Looking to complete their straight set win, Sulphur Springs did not get off to the start they were hoping for in the third set. Mount Pleasant opened things on a 7-3 run, but Sulphur Springs scored on four straight possessions to tie the set at 7-7.
The teams traded points on the next 16 possessions, but Mount Pleasant scored twice in a row to take a late 17-15 lead. From there the Lady Cats played their best volleyball of the night, allowing just one more point as they went on to take the set by a final score of 25-18.
Burnside was the leader for the Lady Cats offensively, as she was responsible for over half the team’s kills. The senior ended the game with 21 kills, as well as a pair of aces and one block.
Setting things up was Hammack, who had 33 of the team’s 36 assists. She also had six digs, as well as three kills and a pair of blocks.
Defensively it was senior Parris Pickett who led the way, coming up with a team-high 19 digs. Also finishing in double-digits was senior AJ Dodd who had 11 digs.
Other notables for the Lady Cats were Dugan, who had a team-high four blocks, as well as three kills. Hurley and sophomore Kinslei Smallwood tied for the second-most kills on the team with four each.
The win makes the second straight for the Lady Cats, both of which were at home. Their record improves to 17-12 on the year and 5-2 in district play, where they trail Texas High (7-0) and are tied with Hallsville.
Coverage of their Friday match against Texas High will be published in Wednesday’s edition of the News-Telegram. Next week the Lady Cats will be back in action with a road game against Marshall Tuesday and a home game against Pine Tree Friday. Friday’s match against Pine Tree is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.