The Southington Blue Knights will take on the Berlin Redcoats at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Southington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Connecticut's top teams: Glastonbury, who was ranked seventh at the time (Southington was ranked 22nd). The Blue Knights fell 3-1 to the Guardians on Thursday. The Blue Knights' loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
The final score came out to 25-22, 25-16, 17-25, 25-22.
Paige Raines put forth a good effort for the losing side as she had 19 digs and one assist.
The home team had won the previous three meetings between Berlin and Maloney, and Maloney kept the tradition alive. The Redcoats came up short against the Spartans on Friday, falling 3-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Redcoats have suffered against the Spartans since October 22, 2020.
Berlin was held off the scoreboard, but that almost wasn't the case: they kept the second set very close. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-23, 25-20.
Southington will have to contain Ava Gombotz as she made an impact in Berlin's last game. She had 16 digs. Gombotz is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 14 or more in each of the last four games she's played.
Berlin's loss dropped their record down to 18-7. As for Southington, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-10-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Monday's match: Southington has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Berlin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 12.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Southington's way against Berlin in their previous matchup on October 9th, as Southington made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Blue Knights have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Redcoats turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
