Volleyball Preview: Valencia Jaguars vs. Belen Eagles
Valencia is 8-2 against Belen since October of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Valencia Jaguars are taking a road trip to challenge the Belen Eagles at 6:00 p.m. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Valencia took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Highland.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Valencia took every set by at least 11 points. The final score came out to 25-6, 25-14, 25-9.
Valencia found their leader in underclassman Brooke Romero, who had 15 aces and 16 assists. Those 15 aces gave Romero a new career-high.
Valencia was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 24 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Belen got the win against Grants on Thursday by a conclusive 3-0. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Eagles.
While Belen won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the second set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 25-22, 25-14.
Valencia is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season. As for Belen, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Valencia has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Belen struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Valencia's way against Belen when the teams last played back in November of 2023, as Valencia made off with a 3-0 victory. Does Valencia have another victory up their sleeve, or will Belen turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
