The Bear River Bears will head out to take on the Hurricane Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hurricane took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Bear River, who comes in off a win.
Bear River needed a changed in momentum after dropping 17 straight games and they got it from Bronson Gubeli. Bear River skirted past Mountain Crest 3-2 for which the team can thank Gubeli, who had 14 digs and 12 aces. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in kills (two).
It was an exciting match in which no team won back-to-back sets, but at the end of the day Bear River got the one that really mattered. The match finished with set scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 17-15.
Meanwhile, Hurricane was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell 3-1 to Cedar. While the Tigers didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Reds 25-17 in the first set.
Hurricane 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 17-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-18.
Bear River will need to focus on slowing down Bridger Eves, one of several Hurricane players who made an impact when they last played. He had 24 assists and one block. Eves is crushing it when it comes to assists: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Kasey Kearney also deserves some recognition as he had his first dig of the season.
Even though they lost, Hurricane was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.
Hurricane's loss dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Bear River, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Bear River has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Hurricane 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. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other volleyball content.
