The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks will head out to challenge the Campo Verde Coyotes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ironwood Ridge has three straight victories, Campo Verde has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Ironwood Ridge proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by three) and on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Salpointe Catholic, sneaking past 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Nighthawks have posted against the Lancers since September 8, 2016.
Ironwood Ridge took Salpointe Catholic into a fifth set where they got it done with a eight-point win. The match finished with set scores of 25-12, 25-10, 17-25, 24-26, 15-7.
Meanwhile, Campo Verde suffered their biggest defeat since September 23rd on Thursday. They came up short against Notre Dame Prep, falling 3-0.
The final score came out to 25-18, 25-15, 25-20.
Despite the loss, Campo Verde saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Kendal Kellar had nine digs and three assists.
Campo Verde's defeat dropped their record down to 15-15. As for Ironwood Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 17-15.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Ironwood Ridge has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Campo Verde struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Ironwood Ridge's way against Campo Verde in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as Ironwood Ridge made off with a 3-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Nighthawks since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
