After both having extra time off, the Golden Valley Cougars and the Whitney Wildcats will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, Golden Valley came up short against El Capitan and fell 3-1. While the Cougars didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Gauchos 25-20 in the first set.
Golden Valley started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The final score came out to 20-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-23.
Golden Valley's loss came about despite a quality game from Teng Her, who had 22 digs.
Meanwhile, Whitney earned a 3-1 win over Rocklin on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Whitney had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 19-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-20.
Whitney's win came from a few key players Golden Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Balin Sillence-Dhamrait, who had 30 assists and four digs. That's the most assists he has posted since back in March. Martin Lim was another key player, getting 27 assists and five digs.
Whitney was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. They are 6-1 when they serve at least ten aces.
Whitney's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-19. As for Golden Valley, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 22-16.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's matchup: Golden Valley has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 4.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Whitney struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
