The Hillcrest Rams will face off against the Woodmont Wildcats at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Hillcrest is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: Greenville, who was ranked 12th at the time (Hillcrest was ranked 15th). The Rams fell just short of the Red Raiders by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday. The Rams have struggled against the Red Raiders recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Hillcrest wouldn't go down easily and took Greenville into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 16-14.
Hillcrest's loss came about despite a quality game from Carleigh Pace, who had 15 digs. Another player making a difference was Alivia Elgin, who had six digs and three aces.
Meanwhile, Woodmont made easy work of Mauldin on Tuesday and carried off a 3-0 win. The victory continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Mavericks: they've now won four in a row.
Woodmont never let Mauldin on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-13, 25-13, 25-22.
Hillcrest's defeat dropped their record down to 20-7. As for Woodmont, their win bumped their record up to 30-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Hillcrest has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Woodmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Hillcrest suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Woodmont in their previous meeting back in September. Will the Rams have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more volleyball content.
