Athlete of the Week: Slaughter eyeing Harrisburg record entering playoffs

Harrisburg senior Sami Slaughter accomplished one of her long-term goals earlier this month, breaching the 1,000 kills mark for her career.

Now, as her team enters district play as the top overall seed in District 2AA, Slaughter has her sights set on the next career mile marker -- the program record for career kills.

"Throughout my high school career, I wanted to get 1,000 kills and it was a huge accomplishment," said Slaughter, who had 14 kills and three aces against Watertown on Tuesday. "Now I'm trying to beat the school record of 1,157."

Slaughter grew up around basketball. Her dad and both of her brothers played in college, and at 6-foot-1, she certainly had (has) the height to follow in their footsteps. But Sami’s passion is in volleyball.

“I’ve had my eye on Sam when I had her in elementary school as a student and I watched her come up through the ranks,” Harrisburg coach Renette Costain said. “She’s awesome at basketball, as well. But I knew that she was going to be a volleyball player. She’s built like a volleyball player, she’s got the heart of a volleyball player and she has done a ton of work in the offseason to make her as good as she is.”

As postseason play begins next week, Slaughter should clear not only the kills record for Harrisburg but should hit career milestones in aces (currently at 94) and digs (currently at 495).

“We’re just taking it one game at a time and we’re knocking off our goals,” Costain said. “We won the ESD (Tuesday) and so the next thing we’re going after is the district championship.”

In terms of college, Slaughter has narrowed her list down to three schools: Nebraska, South Dakota or Iowa State.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen .

PREVIOUS WINNERS

Sept. 16 -- Lexi Koltz, Softball (Roosevelt)

Sept. 23 -- Bryce Hammer, Golf (O'Gorman)

Sept. 30 -- Derek Zevenbergen, Soccer (Sioux Falls Christian)

Oct. 7 -- Izzy Hedge, Soccer (O'Gorman)

Oct. 14 -- LHS Patriots, Tennis (Lincoln)

Oct. 21 -- Tupak Kpeayeh, Football (Washington)