The James Irwin Jaguars will head out to take on The Vanguard School Coursers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
James Irwin had taken Florence down for two straight games at home, but that winning streak came to an end on Thursday. The Jaguars fell 3-1 to the Huskies. The Jaguars have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back matches.
James Irwin came incredibly close to winning: the sets they lost were decided by three points or less. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-22, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23.
Despite their defeat, James Irwin saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Lilliana Vanasse, who had 35 digs and two aces, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Alana Trujillo, who had 12 assists and seven digs.
Meanwhile, The Vanguard School made easy work of La Junta on Thursday and carried off a 3-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Coursers.
While The Vanguard School might've won, it sure wasn't easy: La Junta scored at least 19 points in every set they played. The final score came out to 25-19, 25-23, 25-22.
The Vanguard School's win came from a few key players James Irwin will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ainsley Anderson, who had five digs and five aces. That's the most aces she has posted since back in September. Keilani Kaneakua was another key player, getting 11 digs.
They weren't the only good servers: The Vanguard School was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 11 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least nine aces every time they've taken the court this season.
James Irwin's loss dropped their record down to 2-10. As for The Vanguard School, their record now sits at 8-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: James Irwin has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.2 aces per game. However, it's not like The Vanguard School struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 12.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
James Irwin might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from The Vanguard School in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Can the Jaguars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
