The Lowell Red Devils will face off against the Illiana Christian Vikings at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Lowell is headed into the match having just suffered their biggest defeat since September 11th last Thursday. They came up short against Hanover Central, falling 3-0. The Red Devils haven't had much luck with the Wildcats recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.
The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 25-16, 25-13.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Illiana Christian walked away with it. They blew past the Kougars 3-0 on Thursday. The win was familiar territory for the Vikings, who have now won five matchups in a row.
Lowell better keep an eye on Ava Bercot. She was instrumental in Illiana Christian's win, getting 13 digs and three aces. That's the most aces Bercot has posted over her last nine contests.
Illiana Christian was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in seven consecutive matches.
Lowell now has a losing record of 11-12. As for Illiana Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 26-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Lowell has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Illiana Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lowell suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Illiana Christian when the teams last played back in September. Can the Red Devils 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
