Volleyball Game Preview: Varela Vipers vs. Mater Lakes Academy Bears

The Varela Vipers will face off against the Mater Lakes Academy Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Varela comes in on seven and Mater Lakes Academy on ten.

Varela is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Miami Beach 3-0.

One reason for the win was Varela's just kept getting better, winning each set by more points than the last. The final score came out to 25-21, 25-16, 25-13.

Jose Santos

Assists

05/06/25 vs Miami Beach	25
05/01/25 vs Belen Jesuit	30
04/29/25 vs Southridge	19
04/22/25 vs Keys Gate	13
04/21/25 vs Hialeah-Miami Lakes	12
+ 5 more games

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Varela to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jose Santos, who had three digs and three aces. Santos has been hot for a while, having also posted 12 or more assists the last ten times he's played. Sebastian Hidalgo was another key player, getting 11 digs and one assist.

They weren't the only good server: Varela was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in seven consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Mater Lakes Academy made easy work of Mater Academy Charter on Tuesday and carried off a 3-0 win.

Mater Lakes Academy's got stronger as the match went on, holding Mater Academy Charter to fewer and fewer points set over set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 25-15, 25-13.

Mater Lakes Academy's victory was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-7. As for Varela, their win bumped their record up to 19-6.

Varela might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Mater Lakes Academy when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Can the Vipers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.