Volleyball Preview: Smithson Valley Rangers vs. New Braunfels Unicorns
The Smithson Valley Rangers will head out to challenge the New Braunfels Unicorns at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, it was close, but Smithson Valley sidestepped Boerne for a 3-2 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Rangers.
Smithson Valley wouldn't go down easily and took Boerne into a fifth set where they got it done with a seven-point win. The match finished with set scores of 25-22, 15-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-8.
Smithson Valley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Berkley Bates out in front who had 28 digs. Bates is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 17 or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophia Fuentes, who had 15 digs and 18 assists.
Meanwhile, New Braunfels waltzed into their game on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over the Patriots.
New Braunfels' not only won, but also showed off some consistency: keeping Veterans Memorial between 15 and 16 points across their sets. The final score came out to 25-15, 25-16, 25-16.
New Braunfels' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Karrigan Staats, who had four digs and two aces.
Smithson Valley has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 23-13 record this season. As for New Braunfels, their win bumped their record up to 30-12.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Smithson Valley has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 4.5 aces per game. However, it's not like New Braunfels struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Smithson Valley skirted past New Braunfels 3-2 when the teams last played back in September. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was New Braunfels' Hayden Jeffers, who had 38 digs and two aces. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Smithson Valley still be able to contain Jeffers? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
