Lady Savage Heat look to be aggressive at districts
HOT SPRINGS – The Lady Savage Heat had a busy week on their hands with three matches in five days.
The ladies were only able to capture one win over the time period. Hot Springs lost to Plains 14-25, 25-18, 19-25, 18-25. Even with the loss, the Lady Savage Heat had a lot of positives.
During their second set win they were communicating well, calling for the ball and built a commanding 17-10 lead during the set. Their strong play made it difficult for Plains to recover.
Hot Springs was playing short handed. They were with out Rosa Dolson and Makenzi Skellenger. Dolson’s height would have provided a much-needed boost against the taller girls of Plains.
“This is a team that does not like change,” Head Coach Alisha Pablo said. “When two players didn’t show to school because they were sick, it threw the rest of the team off quite a bit.”
Hot Springs next faced the Charlo Vikings. Once again the Lady Savage Heat come up short losing in three straight sets 26-24, 25-15, 25-19 on the road. Charlo had been a much stronger team this season. The Lady Savage Heat had a strong showing during the first set but later struggled against the Vikings.
“We were hitting really well and playing really well,” Pablo said. “Volleyball is a game of momentum and they kept it up.”
To end the week, Hot Springs returned home for senior night to face Arlee. Hot Springs was stronger, faster and bigger than Arlee. The Lady Savage Heat jumped out to a 13-4 lead early on in the first set. The serving of senior Meara Schmiedbauer helped provide the boost for the Lady Savage Heat’s 25-11 tromping of Arlee in the first set.
“We always seem to dig ourselves a hole,” Pablo said. “We just call a time out and reset. We get into ruts but always seem to get out of it. We had some really nice kills and were finding the holes.”
Pablo’s crew found it easier in the second set to hit the ball. During the set the Lady Savage Heat learned more about the other team’s hitters and what they need to do to win the game.
In the second set, Hot Springs looked sluggish and were down early. However, they managed to bounce back and take the lead 14-13 thanks to the service of junior Josie Carr. Hot Springs eventually took the set 25-16 and a two game lead in the match.
The third set appeared to be a straight set win for Hot Springs until Arlee fought back and won the third set. It was a back and forth battle between the two teams to see who wanted it more. Hot Springs would eventually fall in the set 29-31.
“It just seemed like we made mistakes at the wrong time,” Pablo said. “Our hitting wasn’t very good in that set. In fact it was 44 percent. In the other games we were in the 70s.”
Hot Springs would bounce back in the fourth set to win 27-25 and take the victory from Arlee.
The 10C district games are November 1 thru 2 with Hot Springs playing Noxon on Friday at 10:30 a.m.
“Noxon is very scrappy and do not quit,” Pablo said. “We have to work on our serve receive and defense.”