Hot Springs sweeps Seeley Swan

Danielle Switalski

The Savage Heat swept Seeley Swan at their match this past Saturday in a three game match where the Hot Springs girls won 25-18, 25-13 and 25-18.

Head coach Bonnie Franklin spent the bulk of the match trying different combinations of players to see who fits best together. Despite the different rotations, the Savage Heat is starting their season out strong after winning the tournament in Drummond and going on for yet another win Saturday.

“We are still trying to figure out what our strongest combination of kids is, I played with many groups this match and that’s why I think the score was so close,” said Franklin attributing the Swan’s high scores to Franklin’s multiple rotations throughout the match.

All-state senior Mackenzie Wood played tough throughout all three games, leading the team with 20 assists and 11 aces. Franklin is still trying to find another hitter to take the place of Wood in order to have Wood stay in more of a hitting role on the team. As one of Franklin’s experimental combinations, Alyssa Foster stepped in and set for a couple of the rotations and “did a nice job” filling the setter position. Franklin plans on continuing these new combinations in the games to come to see what group works best together especially as more girls are becoming eligible to play, she can continue putting more girls in different roles throughout the game.

“I’m very excited that everybody is stepping up and coming to play,” said Franklin. “And I’m still trying to get a feel for who gels together and who our strongest six are and go with that.”

Franklin said this year is different than the past couple of years because in the past the bench did not see much playing time because the team had always been loaded down with strong players. But this, being a building year for Hot Springs, will allow for some new faces on the court.

Seniors Devin White and Randy Arnold led the team with kills on Saturday, White having 10 and Arnold 11. Lindsey Salmy led the team in digs, finishing up the match with eight in total.

“I’m very proud of these girls, we’re starting strong, let’s hope we can keep it up,” said Franklin.

Hot Springs battled Stillwater Christian in a non-conference game Tuesday night and takes on St. Regis Friday September 11 and Arlee on Saturday September 12.