After both having extra time off, the Mountain Empire Redhawks and the Calexico Bulldogs will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Last Thursday, Mountain Empire came up short against O'Farrell Charter and fell 3-1. The Redhawks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Mountain Empire 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 23-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-18.
Calexico had won five straight games and Sissi Sierra Lugo did her part to make it six on Thursday. Calexico was the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Vincent Memorial thanks in part to Sierra Lugo, who had 13 aces, eight digs, and a kill. Those 13 aces gave her a new career-high.
While Calexico won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the first set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-23, 25-5, 25-5.
Calexico was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 25 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in six consecutive matchups.
Mountain Empire's defeat dropped their record down to 14-10. As for Calexico, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 games, which provided a massive bump to their 19-13 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's contest: Mountain Empire has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Calexico struggles in that department as they've been averaging 14.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mountain Empire might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Calexico in their previous meeting back in September of 2016. Can Mountain Empire avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
