The Newberry Panthers will challenge the Keystone Heights Indians at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Newberry is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Palatka 3-0.
Newberry not only won, but also showed off some consistency: they kept Palatka between 14 and 17 points across their sets. The match finished with set scores of 25-15, 25-17, 25-14.
If Crescent City wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Keystone Heights, they should've done a better job of containing Mia Rivera. The Indians walked away with a 3-1 win over the Raiders on Tuesday thanks in part to Rivera, who had 21 kills, three digs, two blocks, and two aces. Rivera is crushing it when it comes to kills: she's had at least six every time she's taken the court this season.
Keystone Heights had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The final score came out to 10-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-21.
Keystone Heights' win came from a few key players Newberry will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kadence Massey, who had ten digs, two aces, and one block. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in assists (five). Kaleigh Marquart was another key player, getting 24 assists and three digs.
Newberry is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. As for Keystone Heights, their record now sits at 17-9.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Newberry has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 12.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Keystone Heights struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.7 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Newberry's way against Keystone Heights in their previous matchup back in September, as Newberry made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Indians turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
