Hot Springs volleyball plays well at Districts

HOT SPRINGS – The Lady Savage Heat competed in District competition this weekend and were able to capture third place.

Friday afternoon the Lady Savage Heat took on Noxon. Hot Springs won in straight sets 25-23, 25-19, 25-17. In the late game, the Lady Savage Heat were able to beat the Scarlets of Arlee in four sets.

The Savage Heat had to play back-to-back games against Superior and Charlo during Saturday afternoon’s matches. The Lady Savage Heat appeared to be exhausted compared to the fresh and rested Lady Vikings of Charlo.

Charlo was able to win in straight sets after Hot Springs beat Superior in four sets. The Lady Savage Heat were firing on all cylinders in the game against Superior. They had great play from the senior heavy squad.

Rosa Dolson was able to serve well for the Lady Savage Heat during the match. At one point she served eight straight points for Hot Springs.

“Rosa has made big strides in her serving,” Head Coach Alisha Pablo said. ”When she came to us a few years ago she couldn’t consistently hit it over the net. She had an amazing weekend.”

The Lady Savage Heat almost let the Lady Bobcats take the first set. After taking a quick lead the Savage Heat appeared comfortable in victory. Until the Lady Bobcats made a run to make the game competitive near the end.

Pablo called a late time out to talk to her players. After the talk, the Lady Savage Heat were able to come out and finish the game. Josie Carr served an ace to win it for Hot Springs.

“I actually called the time out to freeze their server,” Pablo said. “I told them they needed to figure it out now if they wanted to take the game.”

Set number two was all Hot Springs. The ladies were up 10-1 to start the match and the domination continued. The twin towers of Meara and Laurel Schmiedbauer combined with Alex Green were able to kill it for the Lady Savage Heat.

“I think most of our points that game came off kills,” Pablo said. “We have been working really hard on our attack,” Pablo said. “Every time the ball goes over the net we want to be attacking.”

That success did not carry over to the next set. Hot Springs, like so many other matches this season, fell short in the third set. A victory would have closed it out but Superior put up a fight and secured the victory 29-27.

After a strong showing in the first two games and a loss in the third the Lady Savage Heat were prepped for a victory in the fourth set. It had become a common theme this season for Hot Springs. After a back and forth matchup, Hot Springs was able to finish off the Superior Lady Bobcats.

Right after eliminating the Lady Bobcats, Hot Springs had to jump into their next match with the Charlo Vikings.

“It’s rough when you have to play back-to-back,” Pablo said. “Some of the girls were just tired. It takes all six being on the same page to win.”

After the 20 minute warm up, the Lady Savage Heat took to the court to face the Lady Vikings in what would be the third place matchup.

Charlo came out strong and took a commanding lead early but Hot Springs fought back but ultimately came up short in the first set 18-25.

The second set proved no different for the Lady Savage Heat. The Lady Vikings were playing much better than the fatigued Lady Savage Heat. Charlo took the set 19-25 and put Hot Springs in a deep a hole.

The third set once again saw Hot Springs fall and ultimately lose the match. Hot Springs looked tired after playing back-to-back matches and lost to the Vikings in the final set 11-25.

“We let Charlo control the tempo,” Pablo said. “We are very much a bump, set, hit team. They were playing faster and we just didn’t adjust.”

The loss gave Hot Springs third place in the District 10C tournament. It also meant the Lady Savage Heat traveled to Ronan Monday to take on Seeley Swan.

The Lady Savage Heat could not pull out the victory and lost in four sets. Coach Pablo is proud of her team this season.