Wildfire Volleyball: Team defeats Opheim; Suffers losses to Malta JV and Harlem

The Saco-Hinsdale Wildfire won their only conference game on Friday against the Opheim Lady Vikings in three games, with the scores of 25-12, 29-27 and 25-19.

They dropped a game Thursday against Class B’s Malta JV team (25-17, 23-25, 17-25, and 23-25) and a Saturday game against Class B’s Harlem Lady Wildcats in five (21-25, 25-10, 24-26, 25-23 and 10-15).

Coach Kathy Siroky attributes their victory in Opheim to the team’s improved offensive attack and the fact that every player played.

The team’s attack was led by Jada Sudbrack, who led in three categories.

Sudbrack led in kills with 10 of 20. She had four of 18 digs.

Sudbrack tied Courtney Capdeville and Mickayla Johnson in blocks, each player had one block.

Capdeville tied Casity Boucher each had four aces a piece, the team had 10 total.

Delaney Beil led the team in assists with 15 of 16.

In their loss to Harlem, the Wildfire went the distance with Harlem in Saco, even outscoring the Wildcats 105-99.

Their play even earned some praise from Coach Siroky, who said, “I was pleased because they had put together five good games.

“We’ve still got a few areas to work on but I was pleased with the overall performance of the girls.”

Their effort was even more noticeable because of the fact that many players played three matches as the team’s JV squad.

“They were very tired,” said Coach Siroky.

The team was led by Hanna Whitaker, who had 10 aces of the team’s 24.

Sudbrack led in kills with eight of 21.

Capdeville hosted a block party, rejecting five kill attempts, the team had eight total.

Capdeville also led in digs with nine of the team’s 33.

Beil had 16 of the team’s 17 assists.

In their loss to Malta’s JV, the team had another Junior Varsity, Varsity double header and both teams started out looking pretty beat.

Though the team jumped out to win the first set 25-17, Malta’s JV numbers ultimately outlasted them after four sets in that heatwave game.

The team was led by Alana Malmend and Sudbrack, who had six kills a piece. The team had a total of 18 kills.

Capdeville led in blocks, knocking down two of three team blocks. She also lead in aces, registering five of 23 and in digs with 15 of 33.

Beil recorded all of the team’s assists, with a total of 18.

Beil, the team’s setter shed some light on what it took for her to become better at the position.

“I spend a lot of time in the gym with my coach and went to a lot of camps,” she said. “I went to camps with Malta’s coach (Julia Tatafu), she and her assistant coach (Tasha Hines) taught me a lot about serving.”

She went on to give credit to teammate Hanna Whitaker and former teammate Shyla Gairrett, who helped her develop her game.

“I’ve had a lot of people help me,” she continued.

Like Beil, Capdeville also gave credit to former teammates for helping her develop her game, specifically defending the net.

“We had a lot of older girls on our team that were really aggressive and really strong so they helped my net play get better,” she said.

This year’s team has improved even though their record isn’t as dominant as it was last year.

“I think our girls played hard,” Beil said. “They’re young, but they’ve improved a lot since day one and they’ve been working really hard.”

She went on to say that the team has a few things to work on and will continue to improve.

“Passing. We’ve got to work on our passing and our serves,” Beil continued. “We’ve been hitting them out pretty bad but, we’ll work on it and pick it up tomorrow, I have faith in us.”

Capdeville agreed with Beil and proved that she had been taking notes from Coach Siroky as she shared what they can improve.

“Like coach would say, passing, passing, passing, passing, what are we going to do today? Passing,” she said.

The girls were also asked if the heat in the gym which felt close to 85 degrees was a factor, Capdeville said, “No, because we practiced in August when it was 100 degrees in here, so I guess we’re kind of used to it.”

Their next opponents are Poplar, a Class B team, they will see tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. in Hinsdale.

They then travel to Scobey on Friday, to face the Lady Spartans who seem to be good every year.

They then go back to Scobey Saturday in order to participate in the Scobey Tournament.

Their first opponent will be Opheim, who they will face in pool play at 4:00 p.m. and then Brockton at 4:30 p.m.

Who they face in the tournament will depend on scores from the pool play games.