The Durango Trailblazers will head out on the road to challenge the Sierra Vista Mountain Lions at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Last Tuesday, Durango didn't have quite enough to beat Southeast Career Tech and fell 3-2.
Durango took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13.
Despite their defeat, Durango saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. James Carl Serrano, who had 46 assists and five digs, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Jayden Campana, who had 14 digs and two aces.
Meanwhile, Sierra Vista faced Green Valley in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. The Mountain Lions took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Gators.
The 3-1 doesn't really show just how close this match was: all the sets Sierra Vista lost were decided by three points or less. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 26-24, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22.
Durango will have to keep a close watch on Christian Diaz and Ben La, a pair of players who had a big impact on Sierra Vista's prior game. Diaz had 17 digs and two assists, while La had seven kills and seven digs. La has been hot for a while, having posted five or more kills the last 11 times he's played.
Sierra Vista has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 15-13 record this season. As for Durango, their loss was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 10-16.
Durango couldn't quite get it done against Sierra Vista in their previous meeting two weeks ago as they fell 2-0. Can the Trailblazers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
