Tranquillity hasn't had much luck against Dos Palos recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Tigers will face off against the Broncos at 5:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Tranquillity had to skate by with only a one-set margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the three-set drubbing they dealt Firebaugh on Tuesday. The Tigers blew past the Eagles 3-0. The win continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won five in a row.
While Tranquillity won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-18, 25-19, 25-22.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Dos Palos, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out Mendota 3-2 on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Broncos have posted since August 23rd.
Dos Palos wouldn't go down easily and took Mendota into a fifth set where they got it done with a eight-point win. The final score came out to 25-11, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-7.
Tranquillity better focus on containing Kodi Gonzales and Hailey Portillo as the pair were huge in Dos Palos' win. Gonzales had 34 digs and two aces, while Portillo had 12 digs and two aces. Gonzales has been hot recently, having posted two or more aces the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilliana Gonzales, who had 12 digs.
Dos Palos was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in eight consecutive matches.
Tranquillity's record is now 14-6. As for Dos Palos, their record now sits at 11-15-1.
Tranquillity suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Dos Palos in their previous meeting back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gonzales, who had 56 digs and two assists. Now that the Tigers know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
