The Lorena Leopards will face off against the Gateway College Preparatory Gators at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Lorena is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Lake Belton just ended the team's 15-match winning streak on Monday. They lost 3-0 to the Broncos. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Leopards have suffered since September 2nd.
While Lorena was not able to make it on the board, they still kept things close, especially in the second set. The match finished with set scores of 25-14, 25-23, 25-21.
Meanwhile, Gateway College Preparatory entered their tilt with Burnet on Friday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They came within a single set of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against the Bulldogs. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Gators have posted since August 16th.
Gateway College Preparatory had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 15-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17, 15-8.
Lorena better focus on containing Isabella Smirh and Jada Litschewski as the pair were huge in Gateway College Preparatory's win. Smirh had 27 digs, while Litschewski had 22 digs and three aces. Those 22 digs gave Litschewski a new career-high.
Gateway College Preparatory was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in four consecutive contests.
Lorena's loss dropped their record down to 32-11. As for Gateway College Preparatory, their record now sits at 25-7.
Lorena came up short against Gateway College Preparatory in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, falling 3-1. Can the Leopards avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
