Burnside leads with 15 kills, 9 blocks
MOUNT PLEASANT- The Sulphur Springs Lady Cats traveled to Mount Pleasant Friday for their district opener. After an up-and-down preseason, the Lady Cats entered the game with some momentum, as winners in each of their last two contests.
Senior Kaslyn Hurley set the tone early for Sulphur Springs, scoring their first points of the game on a block. Later in the first set it was senior Brooklyn Burnside who kept the momentum in their favor, coming up with a big kill to push their lead to 10-4.
Despite their six-point lead, Sulphur Springs found themselves trailing, after Mount Pleasant put together an 11-0 run. Senior Myssiah Dugan was able to put a stop to the run, tying the game up at 15-15 with a block. The Lady Cats finished the set on a strong note, and a kill from Burnside gave them the final point they needed, as they took the opening set 25-19.
Crimson Bryant got the second set started for the Lady Cats, giving them a 3-2 lead early on a big block. Junior Mali Maeker followed her up with a pair of back-to-back aces, something she did very well in the game. Hurley added another block and Burnside added another kill late in the set, as the Lady Cats cruised to a 25-17 win in the set.
Looking to put the game away in straight sets, it was once again Burnside who gave her team an edge early in the set. Sophomore Kinslei Smallwood put the game away, scoring on a block and a kill to give the Lady Cats the 25-14 win.
Burnside played a huge role for the Lady Cats, finishing with game-highs in kills (15) and blocks (9). Just behind her offensively was junior Addisyn Wall who had seven kills, as well as three digs and one block.
Defensively it was senior Parris Pickett who paced the way for Sulphur Spring. Pickett had a gamehigh 12 digs, which was twice as many as anybody else. Behind her were Peyton Hammack, Laney Hurst and Maeker who each had six digs.
Hammack had a strong game setting things up, racking up 24 of the teams 28 assists. Hurst and Landry Speer each had two assists.
Other notable performances for Sulphur Springs were Maeker and Dugan. Maeker had an impressive eight aces in the contest, as she was responsible for half of her teams aces alone. Dugan had a strong game, coming through with three kills, as well as four blocks and one dig.
The Lady Cats return home Friday with a district match against Marshall. The varsity is set to go first at 4:30 p.m. with the freshmen and junior varsity teams to follow. Coverage of their Tuesday match against Texas High will be published in Saturday’s edition of the News-Telegram.