The Coast Union Broncos will face off against the Wonderful College Prep Academy Lions at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
On Thursday, Coast Union didn't have quite enough to beat Cuyama Valley and fell 3-2. The Broncos have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back matches.
Coast Union actually scored more points across those five sets (109-108), but sadly they still had to settle for second. The final score came out to 25-18, 17-25, 21-25, 30-28, 15-13.
Meanwhile, Wonderful College Prep Academy came up short against Kings Christian last Thursday and fell 3-1. The loss continues a trend for the Lions in their meetings with the Crusaders: they've now lost three in a row.
While Wonderful College Prep Academy ultimately came up short, they really made Kings Christian work, particularly in the fourth set. The match finished with set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 15-25, 26-24.
Coast Union will have to keep a close watch on Alexia Vargas and Estefanny Martinez, a pair of players who had a big impact on Wonderful College Prep Academy's prior game. Vargas had 20 digs, while Martinez had five aces and four digs. With that strong performance, Vargas is now averaging an impressive 10.2 digs per game.
Coast Union's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Wonderful College Prep Academy, their loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 7-13.
Coast Union suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Wonderful College Prep Academy in their previous matchup back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Lions' Genesis Ortez, who had 31 digs and two aces. Now that the Broncos know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.