St. Regis girls edge out Lady Savage Heat

HOT SPRINGS – After a hard-fought game, where they came back from the edge of defeat, the Hot Springs volleyball team was defeated in their game against the St. Regis Lady Tigers.

The game started slow for the Hot Springs girls. After a close start to the game in the first set, the Lady Tigers started to pull ahead. The Lady Savage Heat fought to come back, but could not break through the home team’s defenses. The St. Regis girls had several good plays and quickly pulled ahead to claim victory with a score of 25-11.

The second set was just as good for St. Regis with the girls quickly pulling ahead. While the Lady Savage Heat were not far behind, they could not catch up and break the 10-point advantage from the opposition. The set came to a close with St. Regis ahead with a score of 25-15.

In the third set, things took a massive turn around for Hot Springs. They set opened with a deadlock as each team tried to break tied scores. The game was close, with both teams showing great moves, then Hot Springs began pulling ahead. The girls pushed right to the edge of winning the set, then the Lady Tigers rallied and started to come back. They quickly closed in and tied the game, pushing it into overtime. The deadlock continued, but Hot Springs was able to push ahead to win the set 29-27.

Both teams came back strong in the fourth set. They were locked in a constant tie until St. Regis broke away. Hot Springs kept close, though, and quickly returned the score to a tie. The Lady Tigers fought their way out of the deadlock again and started to take another lead, but The Lady Savage Heat pulled them back once again. After fighting another deadlock St. Regis was able to edge ahead, winning the game with a score of 25-23.

Head Coach Alisha Pablo felt the last two sets of the game went very well. Even though they lost, she was proud of how the girls played at the end of the game.

“That’s how we ended, so that’s what I’m proud of,” she said.

The coach was somewhat surprised during the third set, when St. Regis came back and tied the game when Hot Springs only needed one point to win. Pablo felt their serves needed work.

“Our serving, when it comes to games like that, really needs to be on spot and they weren’t,” she said.

Some of the girls had particularly good games. Pablo commended Sophie Jefferies and Stacy Gray for their hits throughout the game; she also noted Makenzi Skellenger for her performance in the back row.

“[She] works her tail off in the back row,” Pablo said of Skellenger. “She’s really the heart of our team and if she’s not out there, we don’t have much going on.”

Hot Springs’ next games will be playing against the Plains Trotters and the Noxon Lady Red Devils. The girls have played both teams before.

During practices this week, Pablo has been working with the girls on closing out games quickly while they are ahead.