Howland hasn't had much luck against Austintown-Fitch recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Tigers will challenge the Falcons at 7:00 p.m. Howland will be strutting in after a win while Austintown-Fitch will be coming in after a defeat.
Howland took a three-set loss the last time they faced off against Geneva, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Tigers came out on top in a nail-biter against the Eagles on Saturday, sneaking past 2-1. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.
The match was exciting from start to finish, as two sets needed extra rallies to gain a two-point lead. The final score came out to 25-27, 25-15, 26-24.
Among those leading the charge was Gabby Rich, who had 12 digs and four aces.
Rich wasn't the only good servers: Howland was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Austintown-Fitch didn't have quite enough to beat Nordonia on Saturday and fell 3-2. While the Falcons didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Knights 25-21 in the first set.
Austintown-Fitch started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15, 15-7.
Austintown-Fitch's defeat dropped their record down to 10-9. As for Howland, their record now sits at 11-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: Howland has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Austintown-Fitch struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Howland suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Austintown-Fitch when the teams last played back in September. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
