The Montrose Meteors will head out on the road to take on the Valley View Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Montrose is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Dunmore just ended the team's four-match winning streak on Thursday. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bucks.
While Montrose ultimately came up short, they didn't go down without a fight: they scored at least 21 points in every set they played. The final score came out to 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21.
Valley View hasn't had much luck on the road recently (they'd lost eight straight dating back to last season) but thanks in part to Layla Marino that streak is no more. The Cougars had just enough and edged out Lakeland 3-2 for which the team can thank Marino, who had 24 digs, 15 kills, and ten aces. She is on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served five or more in each of the last six games she's played.
Valley View wouldn't go down easily and took Lakeland into a fifth set where they got it done with a eight-point win. The match finished with set scores of 13-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-27, 15-7.
Valley View's win came from a few key players Montrose will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nevaeh Evans, who had six digs, two aces, and one block. What's more, she posted three kills, the most she's had since back in September. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Hallock, who had 17 assists and seven digs.
Valley View was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in six consecutive matches.
Montrose's loss dropped their record down to 12-6. As for Valley View, their record now sits at 7-10.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Montrose has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Valley View struggles in that department as they've been averaging 12.5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more volleyball content.