The Slidell Tigers will head out on the road to take on the Mandeville Skippers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Slidell is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering St. Scholastica just ended the team's ten-match winning streak on Friday. They fell just short of the Doves by a score of 2-1.
Slidell started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last two. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 22-25, 25-21, 15-12.
Ella Kate Spilling put forth a good effort for the losing side as she had 16 digs and two aces. Another player making a difference was Lillian Simpson, who had six digs and two aces.
Meanwhile, Mandeville came up short against Northshore on Thursday and fell 3-1. The Skippers have struggled against the Panthers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
While Mandeville ultimately came up short, they didn't go down without a fight: they scored at least 17 points in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23.
Slidell will need to focus on slowing down Julia Marengo, one of several Mandeville players who made an impact when they last played. She hit 100% for six kills and 31 assists and eight digs. Farrah Provance also deserves some recognition as she had her first block of the season.
Slidell's loss dropped their record down to 25-6. As for Mandeville, their defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 12-10.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Slidell has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 5.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Mandeville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Slidell beat Mandeville 3-1 when the teams last played back in September. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
