The North Davidson Black Knights will take on the Mount Tabor Spartans at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
North Davidson is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Oak Grove just ended the team's four-match winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 3-1 to the Grizzlies.
While North Davidson ultimately came up short, they didn't go down without a fight: they scored at least 17 points in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20.
The losing side was boosted by Riley Prevette, who had three digs and three aces. Gentry Grae Smith also deserves some recognition as she had her first digs of the season.
Meanwhile, Mount Tabor waltzed into their contest on Monday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Everything went their way against the Vikings as they made off with a 3-0 victory.
The final score came out to 25-14, 25-16, 25-10.
Mount Tabor's win came from a few key players North Davidson will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Player #14, who had six aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Tania Aguilera, who had nine digs and two aces.
They weren't the only good servers: Mount Tabor 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 five aces in eight consecutive matchups.
Mount Tabor's win bumped their record up to 10-12. As for North Davidson, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-9.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: North Davidson has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 13.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Mount Tabor struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went North Davidson's way against Mount Tabor in their previous meeting back in September, as North Davidson made off with a 3-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Black Knights since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
