Volleyball Game Preview: Goldwater Bulldogs vs. Deer Valley Skyhawks

Goldwater is 1-8 against Deer Valley since March of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will look to defend their home court against the Skyhawks at 5:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Goldwater sitting on eight straight wins and Deer Valley on six.

Goldwater will bounce into Tuesday's contest after beating Cactus, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Bulldogs came out on top against the Cobras by a score of 3-1 on Thursday.

Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 26-24, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14.

Deer Valley had won seven straight home games and Seath Brightwell did his part to make it eight on Monday. Everything went the Skyhawks' way against Cactus as they made off with a 3-0 victory for which the team can thank Brightwell, who had 14 digs and one assist. He has been hot recently, having posted 14 or more digs the last four times he's played.

Deer Valley walked away with the win (and looked especially good in the third set). The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 25-16, 25-12.

Deer Valley's victory bumped their record up to 24-8. As for Goldwater, their win bumped their record up to 15-5.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Goldwater has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Deer Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Goldwater was able to grind out a solid victory over Deer Valley in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 3-1. Do the Bulldogs have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Skyhawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.