After sweeping Interstate 35 in the first round of the Class 2A Region 3 Tournament on Monday, the Pella Christian volleyball team faces a tough test tonight in the quarterfinals on the road at #15 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

The Eagles cruised past the Roadrunners on Monday to improve to 17-20 on the season, while the ranked Rockets earned a first round bye with their 23-7 record. Pella Christian and EBF have squared off 18 times in the Bound era dating back to 2008, and the all-time series is split with both schools winning nine of those previous meetings. The Rockets claimed the most recent contest in the series with a 3-0 sweep back in 2021, while the Eagles were 3-1 winners the prior season in 2020. Tonight’s contest will be Pella Christian’s tenth game in seven days, and middle hitter Addison Bandstra said after Monday’s win that they will need to stay focused and keep their energy level high to reclaim the lead in the all-time series.

“We need to work on fighting back and I feel like we play better in a higher energy atmosphere, so we usually match the energy of the team, which you could kind of see tonight. But we just need to stay focused, put up a good block, have our defense play well, and we need to trust each other.”

First serve for Pella Christian at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont tonight is slated for 7pm.