After both having extra time off, the Erie Tigers and the Montrose Red Hawks will shake off the rust and duke it out at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.
Erie is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest loss since August 28th on Wednesday. They lost 3-0 to Legacy. The shutout was out of character for the Tigers seeing as the last time the team failed to score was back in August.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 25-14, 25-12.
Devon Twito put forth a good effort for the losing side as she had nine digs and seven assists. Tegan Cerveny also deserves some recognition as she posted her first assist of the season.
Meanwhile, Montrose made easy work of Grand Junction on Thursday and carried off a 3-0 win.
Montrose was especially dominant in the first set. The final score came out to 25-15, 25-19, 25-21.
Erie better focus on containing Reina Contreras and Amaya Potter as the pair were huge in Montrose's win. Contreras had eight digs and three aces, while Potter had eight digs and two assists. That's the most aces Contreras has posted since back in September.
Montrose's victory bumped their record up to 18-1. As for Erie, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Erie hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 6.8 blocks per game. It's a different story for Montrose, though, as they've been averaging only 1.2 blocks. Given Erie's sizable advantage in that area, the Red Hawks will need to find a way to close that gap.
Erie came out on top in a nail-biter against Montrose in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, sneaking past 3-2. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Red Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
