Lake Brantley hasn't had much luck against Winter Park recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Patriots are taking a road trip to face off against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m.
Lake Brantley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Lake Howell, who was ranked ninth at the time (Lake Brantley was ranked tenth). The Patriots fell just short of the Silverhawks by a score of 3-2 on Thursday.
Lake Brantley took Lake Howell into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 15-12.
Meanwhile, Winter Park came tearing into Wednesday's match with three straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single set of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against the Hornets. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Wildcats have posted since April 4th.
Winter Park had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The final score came out to 23-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-8.
Lake Brantley better keep an eye on Nicholas Baker. He was instrumental in Winter Park's win, getting 12 digs and six assists. That's the most digs Baker has posted over his last ten contests.
Lake Brantley's loss dropped their record down to 19-4. As for Winter Park, their victory bumped their record up to 14-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Lake Brantley hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 5.4 blocks per game. It's a different story for Winter Park, though, as they've been averaging only 1.1 blocks. Given Lake Brantley's sizable advantage in that area, the Wildcats will need to find a way to close that gap.
Lake Brantley might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Winter Park when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Patriots avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
