Volleyball Preview: Sotomayor WILDCATS vs. Taft Raiders
On Friday Sotomayor will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to square off against the Taft Raiders at 6:00 p.m. Taft took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Sotomayor, who comes in off a win.
Last Tuesday, Sotomayor had just enough and edged Stevens out 3-2.
Sotomayor took Stevens into a fifth set where they got it done with a two-point win. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 19-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14.
Sotomayor's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sophia Castillo, who had 17 digs and three aces. Castillo is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 16 or more in the last five games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Sierra Deloza, who had 22 digs and two aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Sotomayor was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That's the most aces they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Taft and Warren met for a duel on Tuesday where Taft couldn't get it done. Taft lost 3-0 to Warren.
While Taft was kept off the board, it wasn't for a lack of trying: they cut into Warren's winning margin in every set. The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-22.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Paisley Quarles, who had eight digs and 18 assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia Gonzalez, who had 13 digs.
Sotomayor's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-14. As for Taft, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost seven of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 15-22 record this season.
Sotomayor was able to grind out a solid victory over Taft when the teams last played back in September, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sotomayor since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
