Soquel was the 3-1 winner over Santa Cruz when they last played one another back in September, but their luck changed this time around. The Soquel Knights fell just short of the Santa Cruz Cardinals by a score of 3-2 on Saturday. While the Knights didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Cardinals 26-24 in the first set.
Soquel started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 24-26, 25-27, 25-23, 26-24, 15-10.
When it comes to explaining why Soquel lost, don't look at Lily Juarez-Sapone. Despite the final result, she had seven digs and two aces. Juarez-Sapone is on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served two or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
Even though they lost, Soquel was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in 11 consecutive matches.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Santa Cruz to victory, but perhaps none more so than Irie Butler, who had six aces and four digs. The dominant performance gave Butler a new career-high in aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Shelby Leonardich, who had 15 digs.
Soquel has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-12 record this season. As for Santa Cruz, they have been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.
Soquel has already played their next matchup, a 3-1 defeat against Scotts Valley on the 12th. As for Santa Cruz, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 3-0 loss against Sage Hill on the 12th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
