After both having extra time off, the Maple Grove Crimson and the Coon Rapids Cardinals will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Maple Grove is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Minnesota's top teams: Andover, who was ranked second at the time (Maple Grove was ranked fourth). The Crimson put the hurt on the Huskies with a sharp 3-0 win on Wednesday. That three set margin sets a new team best for the Crimson this season.
While Maple Grove won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-23.
Meanwhile, Coon Rapids can bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Wednesday. They came out on top against Park Center by a score of 3-1.
Coon Rapids had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The final score came out to 19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18.
Maple Grove better keep an eye on Josh Kavanaugh. He was instrumental in Coon Rapids' win, getting 13 digs.
Coon Rapids was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. That's the most aces they've posted since the start of last season.
Maple Grove moved to 6-4 with that victory, which also ended their four-game losing streak. As for Coon Rapids, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's match: Maple Grove has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 4.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Coon Rapids struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Maple Grove came out on top in a nail-biter against Coon Rapids in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Do the Crimson have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cardinals turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
