Riverdale and Fort Myers squared off in some playoff action on Thursday, but Riverdale had to settle for second. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Fort Myers Green Wave. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Raiders of the 3-0 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in September.
Riverdale started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19.
Riverdale's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Emily Grant, who had 14 digs and three aces. Grant is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 12 or more in the last seven games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Morgan Steffeny, who had 15 digs.
Even though they lost, Riverdale 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.
Amber Engelhart was nothing short of spectacular for Fort Myers: she had 26 digs.
The defeat snapped Riverdale's winning streak at four games and leaves them with a 12-9 record. As for Fort Myers, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 15-7.
The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: Fort Myers beat Riverdale by a score of 3-0 on Wednesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
