After both having extra time off, the University Prep Value Wolves and the USC Hybrid Trojans will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (University Prep Value has five straight victories, USC Hybrid has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Wednesday, University Prep Value was able to grind out a solid win over Community Charter, taking the game 3-1.
University Prep Value had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 25-16, 25-11, 25-16.
Meanwhile, USC Hybrid didn't have quite enough to beat New Designs University Park on Wednesday and fell 3-2.
USC Hybrid took New Designs University Park into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-11, 15-13.
University Prep Value will need to focus on slowing down Anthony Ramirez, one of several USC Hybrid players who made an impact when they last played. He had five kills, four digs, four blocks, and four aces. Those five kills gave Ramirez a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Francisco Sandoval, who had 31 digs.
Even though they lost, USC Hybrid was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces every time they've taken the court this season.
University Prep Value's victory bumped their record up to 7-5. As for USC Hybrid, they suffered their first home defeat, dropping their record down to 2-4.
University Prep Value took their win against USC Hybrid in their previous meeting on March 10th by a conclusive 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for University Prep Value since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
