Volleyball Preview: Shadow Ridge Mustangs vs. Foothill Falcons
Shadow Ridge has gone 8-2 against Foothill recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 6:00 p.m.
Shadow Ridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Bishop Gorman, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Shadow Ridge was ranked 12th). Shadow Ridge lost 3-0 to Bishop Gorman on Wednesday. The Mustangs have struggled against the Gaels recently, as their game on Wednesday was their ninth consecutive lost matchup.
While Shadow Ridge was kept off the board, it wasn't for a lack of trying: they cut into Bishop Gorman's winning margin in every set. The match finished with set scores of 25-9, 25-12, 25-16.
Meanwhile, Foothill got the win against Sierra Vista on Wednesday by a conclusive 3-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Falcons have posted against the Mountain Lions since October 10, 2019.
Foothill never let Sierra Vista on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 25-16, 27-25.
Foothill relied on the efforts of Sally Heagany, who had eight digs and two aces, and Avery Wright, who had 11 digs and three aces. Heagany is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 12 or more in the last seven games she's played dating back to last season.
With the loss, Shadow Ridge broke their seven-game winning streak and moved their record to 13-12. As for Foothill, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 24-8 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: Shadow Ridge hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 5.3 blocks per game. It's a different story for Foothill, though, as they've been averaging only 0.8. Given Shadow Ridge's sizable advantage in that area, Foothill will need to find a way to close that gap.
Shadow Ridge beat Foothill 3-1 when the teams last played back in September. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Wright, who had 19 digs and ten aces. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Shadow Ridge still be able to contain Wright? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
