The Sycamore Aviators are taking a road trip to square off against the Archbishop McNicholas Rockets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Last Thursday, Sycamore came up short against Fairfield and fell 3-1.
Sycamore started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20.
Despite the loss, Sycamore got top-tier performance from Ari Demaris, who had 24 digs. Demaris has been hot recently, having posted 13 or more digs the last three times she's played.
Meanwhile, Archbishop McNicholas entered their tilt with Summit Country Day on Wednesday with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. They put the hurt on the Silver Knights with a sharp 3-0 win.
Archbishop McNicholas never let Summit Country Day on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-12.
Archbishop McNicholas found their leader in underclassman Maria Schulte, who had nine digs and two aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Ali Strange, who had 16 digs.
Archbishop McNicholas was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 16 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 16 consecutive matches.
Sycamore's defeat dropped their record down to 11-5. As for Archbishop McNicholas, they pushed their record up to 15-3 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Monday's game: Sycamore has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 9.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Archbishop McNicholas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.7. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Sycamore was able to grind out a solid win over Archbishop McNicholas when the teams last played back in August of 2023, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sycamore since the team 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
