Sports
Lady Wolves struggle against 4A teams
BY BILL KELLY
Dalhart Texan
The Dalhart Lady Wolves continued getting ready for district last week by taking on two Class 4A teams, Dumas and Pampa. Dalhart struggled in both games, although the Lady Wolves did take one set from Pampa, but in the long run the tough competition should help the team as they go through district and get ready for the playoffs.
In the first set against Dumas, Dalhart took an early 2-0 lead after a block by Kaetlin Sundvahl. The Demonettes scored four straight after that before committing a couple of errors to tie the score at 4-4.
Dumas scored five more straight, then Dalhart closed the gap to 9-6 after an error and an ace by Audrey Hobbs. Dalhart then scored three more to tie the score 9-9.
A kill by Sundvahl off an assist by Alyra Rivera gave Dalhart a 10-9 lead, but Dumas scored eight of the next 11 points to take an 18-13 lead. Dumas then scored seven of the final eight points to win the first set 25-14, taking a 1-0 lead in the game.
Sundvahl scored a kill to start the second set, and the Lady Wolves took a 3-1 lead before Dumas came back to tie it at 3-3.
The teams went back-and-forth for a few minutes, with ties at 5-5, 7-7 and 8-8 and Joie Read and Austen Lusk both scoring kills at different times. Dumas scored 10 straight points after that, and went on to win the second set 25-13 and take a 2-0 lead in the game.
Dumas scored the first four points of the third set before Sundvahl scored a kill for Dalhart. Dalhart made it to within one point at 4-3 Dumas, but the Demonettes scored five of the next six points to take a 9-4 lead.
Dalhart scored a couple more points, and slowly closed the gap until a kill by Read made it 11-10 in favor of Dumas. Dalhart would get within one point one more time, but was unable to get any closer or take the lead. Dumas went on to win 25-16, winning the game 3-0.
Sundvahl had six kills and Read added five kills, while Kaelyn Speer had two kills in the game. Hobbs had one ace and two blocks, and Sundvahl and Read also had one block each.
Rivera and Sundvahl each had six assists, and Addysin Carnesecca led the team with 11 digs. Rivera had seven digs, and Aubree Ramirez had five digs.
The Lady Wolves played Pampa on Friday, September 4, at home, with the game starting before Dalhart’s football game against Pampa and ending shortly after the football game started.
The Lady Harvesters won the first set 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the game.
Pampa scored the first five points of the second set, but an error on Pampa and a kill by Speer closed the gap. Roxy Alvidrez and Speer each added a kill as the teams exchanged the next few points until it was 7-4 Pampa.
A kill by Speer and a kill by Read closed the gap to a single point, then Pampa had an error on an attack by Speer to tie the game at 7-7.
The teams tied again at 8-8, then Pampa scored five more straight points to take a 13-8 lead, and eventually expanded the lead to 21-15, and appeared poised to win the second set.
The Lady Wolves began a comeback at that point. Pampa made an error serving, then Read scored a kill off an assist by Rivera and Sundvahl scored a kill to make it 21-18 Pampa.
The Lady Harvesters scored again, but another error, a block by Hobbs, an ace by Ramirez and a kill by Sundvahl tied the set at 22-22.
Ramirez served another ace to give Dalhart the lead, and a Pampa error made it 24-22 Dalhart. The Lady Harvesters scored one more point, then Sundvahl scored a kill off an assist by Rivera to give Dalhart a 25-23 win and tie the game at 1-1.
Dalhart led early in the third set, but Pampa came back to tie the game at 7-7. Pampa then scored 11 of the next 13 points to take an 18-9 lead, and went on to win the third set 25-15.
The teams went back-and-forth for much of the fourth set, with multiple ties, until the game was tied 21-21.
Pampa scored two straight to make it 23-21, then Read scored a kill off an assist by Sundvahl to make it 23-22, and Sundvahl scored a kill off an assist by Rivera to tie the set at 23-23.
Pampa scored the next point, but Sundvahl scored another kill to tie it at 24-24, which meant that whichever team could get a two-point lead first would win. Pampa was able to score two straight to win 26-24 and take the match.
Sundvahl led the team with 15 kills, and Read had nine kills while Austen Lusk had seven kills. Ramirez led with three aces, and six different players had one block each.
Hudl.com had Sundvahl with 12 assists and Rivera with 11, but from watching parts of the video those stats aren’t entirely accurate and both may have more assists.
Carnesecca had 48 digs, Sundvahl had 15, and Kitchens had 10 digs.
Dalhart was scheduled to play Vega on the road on Tuesday, September 8.
The Lady Wolves play West Texas High at home Saturday, September 12, with the freshmen playing at 11 a.m., the JV playing at noon, and the varsity starting at 1 p.m.
Dalhart will play Fritch at home next Tuesday, September 15, and will then travel to Fritch on Saturday, September 19.
Male Athlete of the Week
The Rahll Activity Center Male Athlete of the Week is Kaleb Speer.
Speer is a senior on the Dalhart Golden Wolves football team, and this is his first time to be named athlete of the week this year, although he has been named in previous years.
Speer took over at starting quarterback this year after Hunter Trusler graduated, and has led the Wolves to wins in both of their first two games. He is a good runner, having started at running back last season, and is a good passer as well.
Speer has a lot of weapons he can use in the offense, and so far has done a good job of getting the ball where it needs to be.
Despite being seen to have a slight limp during the game, Speer led the Wolves to a 34-3 win over Pampa last Friday. He completed 11-of-18 passes for 135 yards and, more importantly, threw four touchdown passes.
He did a good job of spreading the ball around as well, with three different receivers catching those touchdowns, and four different receivers catching at least one pass.
Speer also led the team in rushing, carrying the ball seven times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Dalhart had a large enough lead that the Wolves were able to give his backup some playing time in the fourth quarter, or Speer would’ve had even more yards running and passing.
Dalhart plays its toughest game so far tomorrow night as the Wolves travel to Panhandle. Speer will need to stay at the top of his game and use all those weapons to lead Dalhart to the win.
Honorable Mention:
Bay Wing: Dalhart football. Wing is a senior and one of Dalhart’s starting receivers. He was tied for the team lead in receiving last week against Pampa, catching three passes for 48 yards.
Two of those catches were for touchdowns, which led the team. On defense, Wing had one solo tackle and one assist, with a tackle for a loss.
Luis Deleon: Dalhart football. Deleon is a senior on the Dalhart football team. Deleon carried the ball six times for 44 yards against Pampa last Friday, and also scored a two-point conversion.
He caught three passes for 48 yards and one touchdown. On defense, Deleon had one tackle and one assist, with a tackle for a loss.
Eli Garcia: Dalhart football. Garcia is a senior on the Golden Wolves football team. He caught two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown, and was wide open another time when a different Dalhart receiver ended up catching a touchdown.
Kash Grimsley: Dalhart football. Grimsley is a senior on the Dalhart football team. He ran the ball seven times for 38 yards against Pampa, and caught three passes for 16 yards.
On defense, Grimsley had three solo tackles.
Jose Vasquez: Dalhart football. Vasquez is a senior on the Wolves football team. He led the team on defense against Pampa, recording five solo tackles and one assist, with three tackles for a loss.
