The Blue Ridge Raiders will face off against the Hanover Area Hawkeyes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Blue Ridge is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.
Bryce Conklin
| 04/24/25 vs Scranton | 4 |
| 04/22/25 @ Forest City | 2 |
| 04/17/25 vs Elk Lake | 3 |
| 04/15/25 @ Mountain View | 3 |
If Scranton wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Blue Ridge, they should've done a better job of containing Bryce Conklin. The Raiders put the hurt on the Knights with a sharp 3-0 victory on Thursday with plenty of help from Conklin, who had 20 digs and four aces. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more aces the last four times he's played.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-13, 25-16, 25-11.
Meanwhile, Hanover Area didn't have quite enough to beat Wyoming Valley West last Wednesday and fell 3-2.
Hanover Area took Wyoming Valley West into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss. The final score came out to 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 22-25, 15-12.
Blue Ridge will need to focus on slowing down Ireneo Panecatl, one of several Hanover Area players who made an impact when they last played. He had 15 digs, seven aces, five kills, and four blocks. With that strong performance, Panecatl is now averaging an impressive 2.5 aces per game. Another player making a difference was Davyn Piatt-Ferreira, who had 18 kills, 14 digs, two aces, and one block.
Blue Ridge's win bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Hanover Area, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Blue Ridge has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Hanover Area struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Blue Ridge took their victory against Hanover Area in their previous meeting back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 3-0 score. Will the Raiders repeat their success, or do the Hawkeyes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
