Volleyball Preview: Dunnellon Tigers vs. West Port Wolf Pack
Dunnellon is 0-10 against West Port since September of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Dunnellon Tigers will venture away from home to square off against the West Port Wolf Pack at 6:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Thursday, Dunnellon didn't have quite enough to beat Central and fell 3-2.
Dunnellon took Central into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss. After all that action, the final score was 25-22, 27-29, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12.
Despite their defeat, Dunnellon saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Samantha Bernstein, who had 30 digs, was perhaps the best of all. Bernstein is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had four or more in the last 24 games she's played dating back to last season. Taytym Simonsen was another key player, getting 13 aces.
Simonsen wasn't the only one working in the aces department: Dunnellon was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 21 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in seven consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
West Port might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 3-1 to Forest, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The Wolf Pack have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
West Port came into the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last two. After all that action, the final score was 20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 26-24.
Like Dunnellon, West Port lost despite seeing results from several players. Joslynn Galvan led the charge by hitting 100% for 12 kills, five blocks, and four aces. The dominant performance gave her a new career- in aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Keylimar Mejias, who had ten digs and three aces.
Dunnellon's record is now 1-5. As for West Port, their record now sits at 3-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's game: Dunnellon has serving mastered this season, having averaged 13.2 aces per game. However, it's not like West Port struggles in that department as they've been averaging 13.9. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Dunnellon suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to West Port in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Dunnellon 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
