Volleyball Game Preview: Martinsville Artesians vs. Monrovia Bulldogs

Martinsville and Monrovia are an even 3-3 against one another since April of 2022, but not for long. The Artesians will challenge the Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Martinsville will be strutting in after a win while Monrovia will be coming in after a loss.

Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Martinsville turned things around against Plainfield on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over the Quakers.

Martinsville was especially dominant in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 25-21, 25-11.

Jacob Rowland

Digs

04/22/25 @ Plainfield	7
04/21/25 vs Beech Grove	5
04/19/25 vs Lawrence North	0
04/17/25 vs Decatur Central	4
04/16/25 vs Greenwood	2
+ 4 more games

Martinsville's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Garrett Gardner, who had 18 assists and three aces, and Jacob Rowland, who had seven digs. That's the most digs Rowland has posted over his last nine games. Jacob Hawley also deserves some recognition as he had his first dig of the season.

Meanwhile, Monrovia faced Carmel in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Bulldogs fell just short of the Greyhounds by a score of 3-2. The Bulldogs' loss signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.

Monrovia started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 19-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-10.

Monrovia's defeat dropped their record down to 11-3. As for Martinsville, the victory was their first on the road , bumping their record up to 5-6.

Martinsville was able to grind out a solid win over Monrovia in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 3-1. Will the Artesians repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.