Noxon and Hot Springs battle in cross county match up
<p>Nicole Zavoianu spikes the ball against Hot Springs during a recent game. Noxon would take the Lady Savage Heat the distance eventually losing two to three.</p>
HOT SPRINGS – The Lady Savage Heat of Hot Springs and the Noxon Lady Red Devils faced off during a cross county volleyball match on Thursday as a prelude to homecoming festivities in Hot Springs.
Hot Springs would take an early lead of 16 to 11 in the first game. The Lady Savage Heat would eventually win the set 25 to 18 off of some aggressive offense from Rosa Dolson and solid defense from Josey Carr.
Noxon bounced back to take an early lead in the second set. Hot Springs would narrow the gap but the lead from the Lady Red Devils was too much as Noxon took the second game 25 to 16. The Lady Red Devils were aided with some tough offense from Katie Chandler and solid setting from Sara Webley.
The back-and-forth nature of the match would continue as once again Hot Springs would get out to a 19 to 12 advantage. Amanda Woods provided some strong offense for the team while Carr continued to save the team on defense. Hot Springs would take the third set 25 to 16.
Continuing the emotional roller coaster for audience members, Noxon fought back to take a lead in the fourth set 12 to 6. Despite several digs from Makenzi Skellenger of Hot Springs, the Lady Devils extended their lead out to 20 to 8 with help from McKenna Krueger and Nicole Zavoianu. Noxon would go on to win the fourth set 25 to 8.
Hot Springs got some early offense in the fifth set off of some accurate and blistering serves from Carr. Alex Green and the “Twin Towers” duo of Meara and Laurel Schmiedbauer provided more offense aided by solid setting from Lizzy Cannon. The Lady Savage Heat went on to win 15 to 9.
Hot Springs Head Coach Alisha Pablo said her team played well but had many things to work on in the coming days.
“They passed well today but we need to play more like a team with more intensity,” said Pablo. “We are going to be working on some team building exercises tomorrow. We need to be more aggressive, read the hitters and guard the net.”
Noxon Head Coach Teri Wilkinson said despite the loss, she felt her team played well.
“Our middle hitter went down last week with a dislocated kneecap so considering we had three freshmen out there I think we played really well,” said Wilkinson. “We just need to stay positive and do what we can and they did that. We had some open spots that they were hitting to that we had to adjust for.”
Noxon faced Alberton later in the week winning that game three to zero. Hot Springs played Valley Christian on Saturday and lost in three sets. Noxon is three and four on the season while the record for Hot Springs stands at five wins and two losses.
The Lady Red Devils and Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat will meet again on Thursday for a rematch in Noxon.