The Manchester Panthers will challenge the Fairless Falcons at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Manchester has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Fairless will arrive with five straight wins.
Last Thursday, Manchester didn't have quite enough to beat Orrville and fell 3-2. While the Panthers didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Red Riders 26-24 in the first period.
Manchester actually scored more points across those five sets (105-100), but sadly they still had to settle for second. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 26-24, 13-25, 25-23, 15-8.
Despite the loss, Manchester had strong showings from Alexis Massaro, who had 12 digs, and Reghan Reedy, who had nine digs.
Meanwhile, Fairless earned a 3-1 victory over Northwest on Tuesday.
Fairless got the W, but it wasn't easy, at least in the first set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 35-33, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18.
Fairless was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 17 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 38 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Manchester's defeat dropped their record down to 4-16. As for Fairless, their win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Manchester has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6 aces per game. However, it's not like Fairless struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Manchester came up short against Fairless in their previous meeting back in September, falling 3-1. Can Manchester avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
