Volleyball Game Preview: Lake Zurich Bears vs. Fremd Vikings

Lake Zurich is 1-9 against Fremd since September of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Bears will face off against the Vikings at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, Lake Zurich sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over Wheeling. The Bears haven't had any issues with the Wildcats recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.

Lake Zurich had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next two. The final score came out to 21-25, 27-25, 25-13.

Malia McManus and Ella Elsen were among the main playmakers for Lake Zurich as the former had 11 digs and two aces and the latter had 18 assists. What's more, McManus posted three assists, the most she's had over her last eight matches. Ava Chavez also deserves some recognition as she had her first block of the season.

Meanwhile, it's playoff time, and Fremd had no trouble coming through when it counted. They walked away with a 2-0 win over Conant on Tuesday.

Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Fremd took both sets by at least 14 points. The match finished with set scores of 25-8, 25-11.

Lake Zurich's record is now 19-14. As for Fremd, their record now sits at 27-7.

Lake Zurich couldn't quite get it done against Fremd when the teams last played back in September as they fell 2-0. Can the Bears avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.