The Miyamura Patriots will challenge the Shiprock Chieftains at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, Miyamura beat Bloomfield 3-1. The Patriots haven't had any issues with the Bobcats recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Miyamura walked away with the victory (and looked especially good in the first set). Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-14, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22.
Meanwhile, Shiprock hadn't done well against Gallup recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Chieftains narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Bengals 3-2.
Shiprock was staring down a 2-1 deficit headed into the fourth set, but they rallied to take the next two for the win. The final score came out to 22-25, 25-9, 25-27, 25-13, 15-11.
Shiprock had a senior duo take command as Nicolette Howard had 20 digs and seven aces and Ireland Shorty had 13 digs and three aces. Howard is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 15 or more in each of the last 19 games she's played.
Shiprock was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 17 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in seven consecutive contests.
The victory got Miyamura back to even at 11-11. As for Shiprock, their win bumped their record up to 13-8.
Miyamura came up short against Shiprock in their previous meeting two weeks ago, falling 3-1. Will the Patriots have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.
