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

The Mater Lakes Academy Bears will take on the Varela Vipers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Mater Lakes Academy will be looking to extend their current ten-game winning streak.

Mater Lakes Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Mater Academy Charter as they made off with 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. The final score came out to 25-21, 25-15, 25-13.

Meanwhile, Varela waltzed into their contest on Tuesday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They put the hurt on the Hi-Tides with a sharp 3-0 victory.

One reason for the win was Varela's just kept getting better, winning each set by more points than the last. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 25-16, 25-13.

Varela's win came from a few key players Mater Lakes Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jose Santos, who had three digs and three aces. He 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.

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.

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

Mater Lakes Academy took their win against Varela in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 by a conclusive 3-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bears since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.