Volleyball Game Preview: Crimson Cliffs Mustangs vs. Desert Hills Thunder

After both having extra time off, the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs and the Desert Hills Thunder will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Crimson Cliffs is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Mountain View, who was ranked 20th at the time (Crimson Cliffs was ranked 16th). Crimson Cliffs took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Mountain View on Saturday. The Mustangs' defeat signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.

Colsen Neal

Digs (Career)

03/08/25 vs Mountain View	20
03/08/25 vs Jordan	15
03/07/25 vs Snow Canyon	15
03/08/25 vs Grantsville	13
03/06/25 vs Hurricane	13

Despite the loss, Crimson Cliffs got top-tier performance from Colsen Neal, who had 20 digs and five assists. Those 20 digs gave Neal a new career-high. Nathan Dana also deserves some recognition as he had his first kills of the season.

Meanwhile, Desert Hills was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 3-1 to Payson.

Crimson Cliffs will need to focus on slowing down Kai James, one of several Desert Hills players who made an impact when they last played. He had 15 digs and two assists.

Desert Hills' loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Crimson Cliffs, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-2.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: Crimson Cliffs has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Desert Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Crimson Cliffs came out on top in a nail-biter against Desert Hills in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Does Crimson Cliffs have another victory up their sleeve, or will Desert Hills turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.