The Mineola Yellowjackets will head out to face off against the Malakoff Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Mineola will be strutting in after a win while Malakoff will be coming in after a loss.
Mineola will bounce into Friday's match after beating Grand Saline, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Mineola was the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Grand Saline on Tuesday. Winning may never get old, but the Yellowjackets sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
While Mineola won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The final score came out to 25-15, 25-17, 26-24.
Mineola found their leader in underclassman Jaycee Maagg, who had 12 digs and two aces.
Meanwhile, Malakoff came up short against Quitman on Tuesday, falling 3-0. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
While Malakoff was not able to make it on the board, they still kept things close, especially in the second set. The final score came out to 25-20, 25-22, 25-21.
Despite the defeat, Malakoff saw an underclassman step up: Annel Duran Garcia had 11 digs and three aces. Duran Garcia has been hot recently, having posted three or more aces the last four times she's played.
Even though they lost, Malakoff was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least 11 aces in four consecutive contests.
Mineola has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-10 record this season. As for Malakoff, their loss dropped their record down to 8-21.
Mineola was able to grind out a solid victory over Malakoff in their previous meeting back in August, winning 2-0. Will Mineola repeat their success, or does Malakoff have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
