Volleyball Preview: Hannibal Pirates vs. Fulton Hornets
Hannibal is 9-1 against Fulton since September of 2020, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Hannibal Pirates will be playing in front of their home fans against the Fulton Hornets at 6:00 p.m. Fulton took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Hannibal, who comes in off a win.
Hannibal took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Illini West.
Hannibal's not only won, but also showed off some consistency: keeping Illini West between 16 and 18 points across their sets. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-16.
Hannibal relied on the efforts of Kegan Greening, who had nine digs, and Zanie Terrill, who had nine digs.
Hannibal was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're ace total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Fulton came up short against Hallsville on Tuesday and fell 3-1. The Hornets have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Fulton started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 13-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-17.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Bre Knighten, who had 18 digs, 17 kills, and five aces. That's the most aces she has posted in her last eight matchups. The team also got some help courtesy of Emily Elias, who had 32 digs.
Hannibal's win bumped their record up to 20-7. As for Fulton, their loss dropped their record down to 10-17-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Hannibal has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Fulton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.5. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Hannibal's way against Fulton when the teams last played on October 1st, as Hannibal made off with a 3-0 victory. Does Hannibal have another victory up their sleeve, or will Fulton turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
