For the 2nd time in 4 days, The Swamp is the site of a showdown between Lexington County rivals.
Instead of the gridiron, this contest will be waged in the gymnasium. The River Bluff volleyball team plays host to defending Region 5-5A champion Lexington for 1st place at 7 pm Tuesday.
For the Lady Gators (24-7, 3-0), a victory would give them an edge towards accomplishing their 3-year quest to dethrone the Lady Wildcats.
"(Lexington head coach) Eric (Shick) and I are really good friends," River Bluff head coach Bryan Piro said. "We go way back. So, when we play together, it's more about strategy and just about minimizing our errors. The last couple of years, he's got us on that aspect and, hopefully, we've cleaned up a few things. We've playing a lot more consistent. Hopefully, we have a good match Tuesday.
Along with consistency, Piro is pleased with the play of his mostly underclassmen squad. Outside hitters Abby Ullsperger and Lorna Stacherski are 2 of just 5 seniors on the team and Junior libero Quinn Manley is one of the team leaders.
"We have a really solid team," head coach Bryan Piro said. "We're a lot more consistent this year. We've got a lot of good players who came back. We lost some good seniors, some quality seniors, but our underclassmen have really stepped up this year. We're relying a lot on sophomores and juniors this year and a couple of seniors. So, we're doing really well so far."
Both River Bluff and Lexington have taken part in challenging non-region schedules to prepare for region play. The Lady Gators have competed in tournaments both at home (Battle at the Bluff), in the Lowcountry and in North Carolina against ranked teams like state champion runners-up Branchville and playoff nemesis Wando.
This past weekend, they took part in the Wildcat Invitational at Lexington High School. River Bluff went 4-1, losing only to defending Class 4A champion North Myrtle Beach in the semifinal.
"My goal this year was try to get in bigger tournaments and schedule tougher competition out of region," Piro said. "We traveled a lot more this year just to prepare ourselves to where we can get through our region and get ready for playoffs."
Meanwhile, Lexington (27-6, 3-0) won all 6 of its matches to claim the Wildcat Invitational. It defeated Northside Christian, North Augusta,  A.C. Flora (which handed the Lady Wildcats its only set loss), James Island, Blythewood and North Myrtle Beach in the final.  It's also competed against out-of-state teams from Georgia and North Carolina and tournaments at River Bluff and Dorman.