Volleyball Preview: Coral Gables Cavaliers vs. Doral Academy Firebirds
After both having extra time off, the Coral Gables Cavaliers and the Doral Academy Firebirds will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Coral Gables heads in on the heels of a playoff match on Tuesday. They fell just short of Palmetto by a score of 3-2. It was the first time this season that the Cavaliers let down their fans at home.
Coral Gables actually scored more points across those five sets (104-101), but sadly they still had to settle for second. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 28-26, 22-25, 11-25, 15-13.
Meanwhile, Doral Academy came up short against Cypress Bay on Thursday and fell 3-1. While the Firebirds didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Lightning 25-23 in the first set.
Doral Academy started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-18.
Despite the loss, Doral Academy saw an underclassman step up: Susana Zambrano had eight digs and two aces. That's the most aces Zambrano has posted in her last seven games. The team also got some help courtesy of Amy Smith, who had six digs and 22 assists.
Coral Gables' defeat ended a nine-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 18-5. As for Doral Academy, they now have a losing record at 11-12.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's matchup: Coral Gables has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 12.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Doral Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Coral Gables suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Doral Academy when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Coral Gables avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
