Volleyball Game Preview: Incarnate Word Academy Red Knights vs. Lafayette Lancers

Incarnate Word Academy hasn't had much luck against Lafayette recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Red Knights will be playing at home against the Lancers at 6:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Incarnate Word Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: Jackson, who was ranked fourth at the time (Incarnate Word Academy was ranked 18th). The Red Knights put the hurt on the Fighting Indians with a sharp 3-0 win on Tuesday. The Red Knights not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since October 1st (when they won 3-0).

Incarnate Word Academy never let Jackson on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 26-24, 25-18.

Meanwhile, Lafayette waltzed into their contest on Saturday with 13 straight wins... but they left with 14. They walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Jays.

Incarnate Word Academy better focus on containing Addy Wiese and Hailey Lowery as the pair were huge in Lafayette's win. Wiese had nine digs and four assists, while Lowery had 13 assists.

Lafayette's win bumped their record up to 29-1. As for Incarnate Word Academy, their victory bumped their record up to 20-12.

Incarnate Word Academy suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Lafayette in their previous matchup back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wiese, who had 24 digs and two assists. Now that the Red Knights know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.