Volleyball Preview: Hobbton Wildcats vs. North Duplin Rebels
Hobbton is on a four-game streak of home wins, while North Duplin is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Hobbton Wildcats will welcome the North Duplin Rebels at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. North Duplin took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Hobbton, who comes in off a win.
Hobbton will bounce into Tuesday's match after beating Union, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Hobbton put the hurt on Union with a sharp 3-0 win on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Wildcats have posted against the Spartans since October 12, 2021.
The win didn't come easy: Union scored at least points in every set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-16, 25-10.
Hobbton was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, North Duplin lost 3-0 to Rosewood on Thursday. The Rebels haven't had much luck with the Eagles recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-14.
Despite the defeat, North Duplin had strong showings from Lilly Fulghum, who had 11 digs and 11 assists, and Carrly Strickland, who had eight digs and four aces. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: Fulghum now posted ten or more in the last 12 games she's played dating back to last season.
Hobbton's victory bumped their record up to 10-2. As for North Duplin, their loss dropped their record down to 7-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Hobbton has serving mastered this season, having averaged 15.1 aces per game. However, it's not like North Duplin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 19.5. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Hobbton suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to North Duplin when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Hobbton avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
