Volleyball Preview: Swallows Charter Academy Spartans vs. Las Animas Trojans
Swallows Charter Academy is 2-8 against Las Animas since September of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Swallows Charter Academy Spartans and the Las Animas Trojans are set to duel.
Swallows Charter Academy is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Rye just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 3-1 to the Thunderbolts.
The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 17-25, 25-17, 25-14.
Meanwhile, Las Animas entered their tilt with Center last Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Vikings with a sharp 3-0 victory.
The 3-0 score doesn't really reflect how close the match was: every set was decided by three points or less. The final score came out to 29-27, 25-22, 25-23.
Las Animas' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Johanna Alvarado led the charge by getting 30 digs and two aces. That's the most aces Alvarado has posted in her last six matchups. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava LaBarge, who had 24 digs, three kills, and 11 assists.
Las Animas 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 ten aces in three consecutive contests.
Swallows Charter Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 13-7. As for Las Animas, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-12.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's game: Swallows Charter Academy has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 11.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Las Animas 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.
Swallows Charter Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Las Animas in their previous matchup back in October, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Swallows Charter Academy 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
