After both having extra time off, the Porter Ridge Pirates and the Covenant Day Lions will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Last Tuesday, Porter Ridge came up short against Metrolina Christian Academy and fell 3-1. The defeat continues a trend for the Pirates in their meetings with the Warriors: they've now lost five in a row.
Porter Ridge couldn't get the win, but they sure gave Metrolina Christian Academy a tough time in the second set. The final score came out to 25-21, 28-30, 25-18, 25-18.
Meanwhile, Covenant Day faced Ardrey Kell in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Lions fell just short of the Knights by a score of 3-2.
Covenant Day actually scored more points across those five sets (107-103), but sadly they still had to settle for second. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 18-16.
Porter Ridge will have to contain Duh Mang as he made an impact in Covenant Day's last game. He had 22 digs. Mang has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more digs the last four times he's played. Gibson Morris also deserves some recognition as he had his first dig of the season.
Porter Ridge's loss dropped their record down to 4-8. As for Covenant Day, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Porter Ridge has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 4.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Covenant Day 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.
Porter Ridge was able to grind out a solid victory over Covenant Day when the teams last played back in May of 2023, winning 3-1. Will the Pirates repeat their success, or do the Lions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
