Lakeland Christian Academy is 0-8 against Lakewood Park Christian since September of 2015 but things could change on Saturday. The Cougars will face off against the Panthers at 10:00 a.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with six defeats in a row, Lakeland Christian Academy turned things around against South Bend Career Academy on Friday. They came out on top against the Trailblazers by a score of 3-1.
Lakeland Christian Academy had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 24-26, 25-20, 27-25, 25-12.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Lakewood Park Christian walked away with it. They put the hurt on the Bruins with a sharp 3-0 victory on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Bruins: they've now won three in a row.
Lakewood Park Christian's win came from a few key players Lakeland Christian Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Vanessa Crider, who had 18 digs. She has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more digs the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Malin Bartkowiak, who had six aces and three digs.
Lakewood Park Christian was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 15 aces. They are a perfect 13-0 when they serve at least ten aces.
Lakewood Park Christian's victory bumped their record up to 16-10. As for Lakeland Christian Academy, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-4 and their overall record up to 5-16.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Lakeland Christian Academy has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Lakewood Park Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lakeland Christian Academy suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Lakewood Park Christian when the teams last played back in August. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
