The Lakeland Dreadnaughts will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the McKeel Academy Wildcats at 7:00 p.m.
Last Saturday, Lakeland didn't have quite enough to beat Lake Wales and fell 2-1.
Lakeland took a 1-0 lead headed into the second set, but sadly they lost the next two. The final score came out to 22-25, 25-20, 15-5.
Despite their loss, Lakeland saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Megan Rine, who had 21 digs, was perhaps the best of all. Rine is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had four or more in the last 14 games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Melanie Bautista, who had 14 digs and three aces.
Meanwhile, McKeel Academy can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They blew past Auburndale 3-0.
After all that action, the final score was 25-11, 25-20, 25-16.
Sofia Burke was the offensive standout of the match as she had seven digs and three aces.
Burke wasn't the only one working in the aces department: McKeel Academy was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. That's the most aces they've posted since last Tuesday.
Lakeland now has a losing record at 4-5. As for McKeel Academy, the win also got them back to even at 5-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Lakeland has serving mastered this season, having averaged 6.7 aces per game. However, it's not like McKeel Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lakeland might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from McKeel Academy in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Lakeland avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
