The Monticello Magic will take on the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Monticello will be strutting in after a victory while Cambridge-Isanti will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Tuesday, Monticello beat Chisago Lakes Area 3-1. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Magic.
Monticello was staring down a 1-0 deficit headed into the second set, but they rallied to take the next two for the win. After all that action, the final score was 23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-9.
Meanwhile, Cambridge-Isanti was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 3-0 to Duluth East, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-22, 26-24, 25-18.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Neva Ihrke, who had two aces and 23 assists. She is on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 12 or more in the last nine games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophia Johnson, who had eight kills, five digs, and a block.
Monticello's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-4. As for Cambridge-Isanti, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Monticello has serving mastered this season, having averaged 6.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Cambridge-Isanti struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Monticello's way against Cambridge-Isanti in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 as Monticello made off with a 3-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Monticello since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
