Mandarin’s Lady Mustangs have not dropped a set since their loss to Bartram Trail on September 19th. They kept the record going in their three-game sweep over rival Atlantic Coast. The series of wins makes a clean sweep over against town rival Atlantic Coast for the season, beating them by a total of 150-75 over two games.
The hype of the rivalry game was electric. Students and fans from both sides were loud and ready to watch the teams compete. Atlantic Coast started off on the home court high scoring the first two points. The first on an ace by Crisie Dominquez and the second due to a huge block up the middle. After a service error by Atlantic Coast, things started to slowly go downhill from there. Mandarin was able to go on multiple runs netting five and six straight service points. Atlantic Coast proceeded to make the game manageable after forcing some Mandarin errors and a massive kill by Keylany Matos, However, Mandarin would eventually win the first set 25-16.
Atlantic Coast made the second set an interesting one. The Lady Stingrays came out ready to fight back and they did just that. Mandarin never got the big lead over their rival like they did in the first set. Atlantic Coast learned quickly from their previous game in August where they fell off big in the second set in which the team never recovered at the time. Atlantic Coast was able to get 17 points in this set compared to their 4 in August. Emma Fisher of Atlantic Coast got a huge block over Mandarin in this set but back to back aces by Mia Watson led the charge for the Lady Mustangs.
Atlantic Coast was able to put up 17 more points against Mandarin this time around by making all three sets more competitive than the route earlier in the season.
Ellie Jackson led Mandarin in kills with a total of ten. Sophomore Emma Dailey led Mandarin in digs totaling ten. Tiana Goodloe would lead Mandarin in blocks by a total of four.
Mandarin (17-4) and Atlantic Coast (4-11) are headed into the postseason. Although there are no further upcoming games scheduled, both teams will be participating in the Gateway Conference.
