The Lutheran South Academy Pioneers will challenge the Saint Mary's Hall Barons at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Lutheran South Academy is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering St. Michael's just ended the team's 13-match winning streak on Thursday. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Warriors.
The loss didn't mean the game wasn't competitive: St. Michael's scored at least 21 points in every set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Sami-Rae Robles, who had eight digs and five aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Eli Wittman, who had eight digs and two aces.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Saint Mary's Hall walked away with it. They came out on top against the Warriors by a score of 3-1 on Saturday.
Saint Mary's Hall had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-7, 26-24.
Lutheran South Academy better keep an eye on Breanna Benavides. She was instrumental in Saint Mary's Hall's win, getting 37 digs and six aces. Benavides has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more digs the last 62 times she's played.
Saint Mary's Hall was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least nine aces in 19 consecutive matchups.
Saint Mary's Hall is on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 18 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 26-7 record this season. As for Lutheran South Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 28-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: Lutheran South Academy has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Saint Mary's Hall struggles in that department as they've been averaging 15.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lutheran South Academy was able to grind out a solid win over Saint Mary's Hall when the teams last played back in September, winning 2-0. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Benavides, who had 19 digs and seven aces. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Pioneers still be able to contain Benavides? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
