Volleyball Preview: Middle Creek Mustangs vs. Apex Cougars
The Middle Creek Mustangs are taking a road trip to face off against the Apex Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Middle Creek is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Middle Creek finally turned things around against Cary on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over the Imps. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Mustangs have posted since September 5th.
While Middle Creek won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The final score came out to 25-14, 25-19, 28-26.
Middle Creek was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Apex didn't have quite enough to beat Apex Friendship on Tuesday and fell 3-2.
Apex was was forced to take the loss, but they sure made Apex Friendship work for it, especially in the first set. The match finished with set scores of 26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 15-10.
Despite the loss, Apex had strong showings from Katie Raymer, who had 28 digs and two aces, and Leah Hulse, who had ten digs and two aces. Raymer is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had ten or more in the last ten games she's played dating back to last season.
Middle Creek's win bumped their record up to 6-10. As for Apex, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 12-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Middle Creek has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.6 aces per game. However, it's not like Apex struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.4. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Middle Creek might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Apex in their previous matchup back in September. Can Middle Creek avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
