Hot Springs tests top-rated Charlo
Freshman Kara Christensen sets a shot for the Lady Savage heat while teammate Josie Uski looks on during their match against Charlo this past Friday night. Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
Some things remain constant: The sun will rise; dogs will bark; and Charlo will have a good volleyball team.
Those things are true year in and year out.
But Friday night’s 3-0 win by the Lady Vikings in Hot Springs may be a sign other teams in the wide open Montana Western 14C conference are catching up.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Lady Savage Heat were more than just competitive.
Charlo won to stay unbeaten in what is shaping up as a more wide open battle for the top this year.
The Lady Vikings came to Hot Springs and won all three sets, but two of those sets were down-to-the-wire affairs that showed there are other young teams that will be in the hunt.
Charlo won 25-21, 25-13 and 25-22 in a display that they still are the team to beat.
Hot Springs had rallied from an early first set deficit to move to a 24-21 score before the Lady Vikings were able to close out the first set.
The second set saw the visitors jump to an early lead and maintain it with superior passing the key to a 25-13 Lady Vikings win, giving them a 2-0 set lead.
But at a point where lesser teams would have given up, the Lady Heat made a game out of set three before falling 25-22 and surrendering the three-game sweep.
Charlo once again jumped off to an early lead in the third set, holding a 7-1 advantage before the Lady Heat got things rolling and tied the score at 12. The two teams then battled back and forth amid a rash of sustained and dramatic vollies that saw the score tied four more times.
Hot Springs moved to within one point, 21-20 late in the third, a rally that delighted the crowd of hometown fans. But in the end, Charlo had enough to hold off one final Heat rally and come away with a 25-22 conference road win.
Hot Springs takes to the road this week for games in St. Regis tonight (Tuesday), Superior Thursday and Alberton this Saturday evening.
Earlier in the week Hot Springs hosted Two Eagle River and swept the visitors by set scores of 25-16, 25-4 and 25-7. Uski served a game-high 13 aces in the win over Two Eagle.
With the loss to Charlo, Hot Springs has a 1-2 overall record.