The Mandeville Skippers will face off against the Slidell Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
On Thursday, Mandeville came up short against Northshore and fell 3-1. The loss continues a trend for the Skippers in their meetings with the Panthers: they've now lost four in a row.
While Mandeville ultimately came up short, they didn't go down without a fight: they scored at least 17 points in every set they played. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Julia Marengo, who hit 100% for six kills and 31 assists and eight digs. The team also got some help courtesy of Alyssa Gaudet, who had 18 digs and two aces.
Meanwhile, Slidell faced St. Scholastica in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Tigers fell just short of the Doves by a score of 2-1.
Slidell started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last two. The final score came out to 22-25, 25-21, 15-12.
Mandeville will have to contain Ella Kate Spilling as she made an impact in Slidell's last game. She had 16 digs and two aces. Another player making a difference was Lillian Simpson, who had six digs and two aces.
Slidell's defeat dropped their record down to 25-6. As for Mandeville, their loss was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 12-10.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: Mandeville has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6 aces per game. However, it's not like Slidell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mandeville came up short against Slidell in their previous matchup back in September, falling 3-1. Will the Skippers 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.
