After both having extra time off, the Coral Academy of Science - Reno Falcons and the Battle Mountain Longhorns will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
Coral Academy of Science - Reno came up short against Yerington on Friday, falling 3-0. The Falcons have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back matches.
The final score came out to 25-9, 25-13, 25-11.
Battle Mountain won the last time they faced Sierra Lutheran and Jazmin Johnson did her part to make sure it happened again. The Longhorns sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over the Falcons on Saturday for which the team can thank Johnson, who had 15 digs and two aces. She has been hot for a while, having also posted 17 or more assists the last 11 times she's played.
If you add up the scores from across all five sets (99-95) Battle Mountain actually scored fewer points, but in the end it didn't matter. The match finished with set scores of 14-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-12.
Coral Academy of Science - Reno better focus on containing Alexis Rangel and Addison Matheus as the pair were huge in Battle Mountain's win. Rangel had 14 digs and two aces, while Matheus had nine kills, five digs, and two blocks. What's more, Matheus also posted a 6.1% hitting percentage, which is the highest she's achieved over her last four matches. Another player making a difference was Ella Moore, who had 16 digs.
Battle Mountain 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 eight aces in 11 consecutive contests.
Battle Mountain is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-8 record this season. As for Coral Academy of Science - Reno, their loss dropped their record down to 3-10.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Coral Academy of Science - Reno has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Battle Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 10.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Coral Academy of Science - Reno suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Battle Mountain when the teams last played back in September. Will the Falcons have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.
