Wildfire Volleyball: Shows potential after winning first two games

The Saco-Hinsdale Wildfire may be younger than they were last year, but they are proving to be every bit as strong as last year's squad.

The Wildfire kicked their season off to a 2-0 start after defeating Lustre Christian in three games of five (25-20, 25-14 and 25-6) in Lustre last Thursday and defeating Opheim (25-18, 25-19, 25-10) in their home opener the following day.

In their home opener the team served up a total of 23 aces, 16 of which came from senior Courtney Capdeville. Capdeville had a strong finish to the game as she served up 14 of those aces in the last match, ten of which were the team's final ten points. Which seems impossible to do.

Capdeville also had five kills, four blocks and six digs.

Jada Sudbrack had the team lead in kills with seven and Mickayla Johnson added five.

Delaney Beil led the team in assists with 15 and Hanna Whitaker added four aces.

"I was pleased with the evening, but there are still a lot of things to work on," said Coach Siroky. "Serving was really well. We were hitting the ball, but we need to be more aggressive."

Coach Siroky noted that she was happy with the communication on the court, which is good because in volleyball like in life if there is no communication, you will fail.

Bailey Funk stepped in for the first game as the team's libero, due to the fact Payton Chopper had a concussion in last weeks action.

Though Funk played well at the position ultimately the team will look for long term answer at libero.

"She did well but we're still going to work on our passing. I'm going to try someone else for that white jersey this weekend and see how it works," said Coach Siroky.

In Thursday's match against Lustre the team served up 24 aces. Capdeville had a total of nine and Beil four.

Beil had 13 of the team's 15 assists, while Whitaker added the other two.

Beil also led in digs with four.

The team had 20 kills and were led by Sudbrack who had six and Alana Malmend who had four. Both Sudbrack and Malmend had three digs a piece.

"The kids got out to a very slow start," said Coach Siroky. "They need to get that killer instinct and get to moving quick. Once they realize that they're quick enough, they come out playing."

In the team's first of the season, they showed that there was plenty to work on like passing and serving errors.

"We called a time out and got everything situated and everything nailed down and they came back," Coach Siroky said. "In the second and third game they really got their serves down and really started talking and attack even on the second ball, rather than waiting for the third."

She went on to say that the team needed to come out on fire in future games.

The team will no doubt aim to be more aggressive against Class B's Poplar Indians in Poplar on Thursday.

The Wildfire took on Poplar in the Malta invitational and won, but the team realizes that they will be tough at home.

The team will have their Hinsdale home opener on Friday at 4:30 against the Nashua Porcupines.

"I think that one's going to be a pretty even matchup," said Coach Siroky.

Nashua has all of their players from last year, which could pose a problem for the less experienced Wildfire.

"They serve really well and move really well," Coach Siroky added.

Though the team is off to a good start, they will not take their opponents lightly and they plan on taking it one game at a time.