The Sandia Matadors will take on the Santa Fe Demons at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Sandia will be strutting in after a victory while Santa Fe will be coming in after a loss.
Sandia extended their winning streak to three games thanks to a huge performance from Leanne Romero. Sandia blew past Eldorado 3-0 on Tuesday thanks in part to Romero, who had seven digs and two aces. She has been hot recently, having also posted 16 or more assists the last three times she's played.
The match was exciting from start to finish, as two sets needed extra rallies to gain a two-point lead. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 27-25, 28-26.
Sandia kept the net locked down and finished the game with ten blocks. That's the most blocks they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe faced La Cueva in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. Santa Fe came up short against La Cueva, falling 3-0. The defeat continues a trend for the Demons in their matchups with the Bears: they've now lost six in a row.
Santa Fe was was forced to take the loss, but they sure made La Cueva work for it, especially in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-22, 25-18, 28-26.
Sandia has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-12 record this season. As for Santa Fe, their loss ended an 11-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 17-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Sandia hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 5.9 blocks per game. It's a different story for Santa Fe, though, as they've been averaging only 1.4. Given Sandia's sizable advantage in that area, Santa Fe will need to find a way to close that gap.
Sandia was able to grind out a solid win over Santa Fe in their previous matchup back in October, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sandia since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
