Wildfire Win One, Lose One

The Saco-Hinsdale Wildfire took it to the Brockton Lady Warriors last Friday in Hinsdale to the cheers of a small but very supportive crowd. I keep telling youse guys to come out and watch some volleyball. It's different than your grannies' volleyball from back in the day when it might take nearly a fortnight to score a point making the games last forever. These days points are made on every serve, greatly accelerating the game and making it much more exciting.

That's one reason I decided to come out of retirement – the excitement of the game. Reason two was that the Couriers' new sports editor – and still publisher – Jim Orr told me to.

But, as usual, I digress.

Brockton brought a very good team to the court and they played well giving a young Wildfire team some great competition at the net and the back row. Their digs were good and they made some really good saves, but in the end the Wildfire won the match in straight sets: 26-24, 24-17 and 24-18.

For Saco-Hinsdale, senior Courtney Capdeville (3 aces, 2 blocks and 1 doink) tied with freshman Alana Malmend with 7 kills each apiece. Malmend had a KWA (Kill with Attitude) that had the crowd on their feet. Freshman Jada Sudbrack was a close second with 6 kills. She added three aces and 2 blocked shots for a well balanced game.

Freshman Mickayla Johnson tallied a kill and an ace. Freshman Bailey Funk added a couple aces, but it was senior Hannah Whitaker who sunk the Lady Warriors with eight solid zingers (aces) that looked like howitzers crossing the net. Good job Hannah.

When librero Payton Chopper got a concussion in an earlier match at Lustre, I believe, Coach Kathy Siroky called on yet another freshman, Casity Boucher to take over in that position and #11 did a very good job indeed.

The other senior, Madison Taylor got to start and played some quality minutes, getting a one-handed dig that shot back over the net to fall harmlessly at the feet of two Brockton players for the pernt.

The Saco-Hinsdale junior high team won handily in their two matches winning all six games. The Wildfire is looking pretty good for numbers in the next few years with three eighth graders, Sarah Boucher, Alysa Conway and Chaykota Christensen; seventh graders Halle Beil, Angel Jackson and Elise Strommen; and sixth graders include Danika Hillman, Jaydyn Erickson and Kaitlyn McColly.

As I was leaving, I told Coach Siroky, "The girls did good." She replied, "At times."

Wildfire at Fairview

The team had a long road trip Saturday to Fairview, where they succumbed to the power of the Lady Warriors, 10-25, 14-25 and 11-25.

Coach Kathy Siroky said, "There was no communication at all, and we played a very tough teams with seniors who play a lot."

Stats for the Wildfire kinda tell the story:

• Only two aces (Courtney Capdeville 1 and Jada Sudbrack 1).

• 8 kills (Alana Malmend 3).

• 5 assists (Delaney Beil 5).

• 2 blocked shots (Capdeville 1 and Mickayla Johnson 1).

• 11 digs (Malmend 3 and Casity Boucher 3).

The ceiling in Fairview's gym is a little discombobulationing because the beams hang down about four feet with about eight feet between them. If a ball gets hit up there it will rattle around like a BB in a boxcar until it comes crashing down usually right where a player isn't.

Tis a very busy weekend indeed coming up with the Wildfire playing host (in Saco) to Malta. At 5 p.m. the Wildfire JV will play the Malta "C" squad and 20 minutes after the completion of that match the S/H varsity plays the M'ettes JV.

The following day Saco/Hinsdale travels to Opheim for a 4 pm JH match followed by another junior high match and then the varsity will take on the Opheim Lady Vikings.

On Saturday, the Harlem Wildcats travel to Saco to contest the Wildfire. The JV match is at 1 p.m. with the varsity match following in 20 minutes after completion of JV. It is senior night, so be there or be square. Come out and show your support for the seniors who have given their time and efforts all these years in an effort to entertain you.

That's it for now folks. Thanks for listening.