Volleyball Preview: Tri-Valley Scotties vs. Licking Valley Panthers
Tri-Valley and Licking Valley are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2014, but not for long. The Tri-Valley Scotties will face off against the Licking Valley Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Tri-Valley will be strutting in after a win while Licking Valley will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Thursday, Tri-Valley made easy work of John Glenn and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Scotties.
The match finished with set scores of 25-11, 25-14, 25-19.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Licking Valley's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell 3-1 to Licking Heights. The loss continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Hornets: they've now lost four in a row.
Licking Valley started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 20-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-23.
Despite their defeat, Licking Valley saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Kendall Tucker, who had 15 digs and two aces, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophia Stokes, who had 12 digs and four aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Licking Valley was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in six consecutive matchups.
Tri-Valley's win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-12. As for Licking Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 10-9.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Monday's game: Tri-Valley has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6 aces per game. However, it's not like Licking Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Tri-Valley took their victory against Licking Valley in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Tri-Valley 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
