Volleyball Preview: Bryant Hornets vs. Southside Mavericks
Bryant hasn't had much luck against Southside recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Bryant Hornets will venture away from home to square off against the Southside Mavericks at 6:00 p.m.
Bryant is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arkansas' top teams: Conway, who was ranked fifth in their home state at the time (Bryant was ranked ninth). Bryant fell just short of Conway by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday.
In an exciting match in which no team claimed back-to-back wins, Bryant sadly wound up on the wrong side. The final score came out to 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-6.
Despite the defeat, Bryant got top-tier performance from Breanna Williamson, who had 29 digs and three aces. That's the most aces Williamson has posted since back in September.
Meanwhile, Southside posted their biggest win since October 10th on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Rogers. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Mavericks.
Southside's got stronger as the match went on, holding Rogers to fewer and fewer points set over set. The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 25-13, 25-11.
Ella Shelby went supernova for Southside, getting 20 digs. Shelby is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 15 or more in the last five games she's played dating back to last season.
Southside was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. They are a perfect 8-0 when they serve at least ten aces.
Bryant's loss ended an eight-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 19-9-1. As for Southside, their victory was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 27-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Bryant has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Southside struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Bryant suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Southside in their previous meeting back in October of 2019. Can Bryant 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
