Hot Springs remains undefeated in conference

Danielle Switalski

The Hot Springs Lady Heat defeated the Noxon Lady Devils in a two-game match in Noxon on Friday to continue their winning streak.

The first game kicked off with an easy win for Hot Springs, winning 25-11 with good communication on the court, something Noxon lacked in the beginning of the match.  Noxon picked up it up and fought hard to the finish in the second game of the match, going point for point with Hot Springs.  Noxon took the lead early on in the second game bringing the score up to 5-4. 

Hot Springs lost some of their on court communication in the second game.  Head coach Bonnie Franklin said communication is one of the team’s biggest weaknesses and they spent most of Monday night’s practice working on these skills.

“We are working on just talking to each other and letting each other know where we are on the court,” said Franklin.

Hot Springs recuperated and did not let go of their lead for the rest of the game, but Noxon kept the score close.

Towards the end of the second game the score was 22-20 with Hot Springs in the lead, but Noxon could not seem to get past Hot Springs guards at the net and the Lady Heat won the second game 25-20.

Franklin said serving is one of the team’s greatest strengths, however many of the teams they have faced have been managing to dig them up which has been keeping the scores of the games fairly close.

“We are really coming along fundamentally and that’s what we need to do,” said Franklin.

Devin White had four aces, Mackenzie Wood had 21 out of the 23 team assists, Randy Arnold had 11 kills and one block and Lindsey Salmy had 14 digs to lead the team at Noxon.

Hot Springs went home with yet another conference win when they faced off against Arlee on Saturday, bringing their conference record to 6-0.  Wood finished the game with eight aces, the team had 21 in total, which shows how strong the team’s serving is this season.  Wood also had 11 assists and seven kills, leading the team.  Salmy went home with 14 digs.

Hot Springs plays Eagle River on Thursday in Pablo and has a tournament in Arlee on Saturday.  However, Franklin said the biggest test for the Lady Heat will be against Sharlo next Tuesday night who is pretty evenly matched to Hot Springs and generally their toughest competition.