Volleyball Preview: Living Word Lutheran Timberwolves vs. St. Francis Mariners
Living Word Lutheran has gone 10-0 against St. Francis recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 3:00 p.m.
St. Francis is facing Living Word Lutheran at the wrong time: Living Word Lutheran suffered their first home loss of the season on Thursday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell just short of the Lightning by a score of 3-2. It was the first time this season that the Timberwolves let down their fans at home.
In a back-and-forth that saw neither team win consecutive sets, Living Word Lutheran sadly dropped the once that decided the match. The final score came out to 25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 21-25, 15-10.
Despite the loss, Living Word Lutheran had strong showings from Emree Kellerman, who had nine digs, a kill, and 39 assists, and Aria Wessel, who had 24 digs. Kellerman is on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 13 or more in the last 20 games she's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, St. Francis had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They blew past the Bishops 3-0.
The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant St. Francis was: they took every set by at least 11 points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-8, 25-7, 25-14.
St. Francis was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least ten aces in three consecutive games.
Living Word Lutheran's defeat ended a 14-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 23-3. As for St. Francis, their victory bumped their record up to 13-14.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Living Word Lutheran hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 4.8 blocks per game. It's a different story for St. Francis, though, as they've been averaging only 0.3. Given Living Word Lutheran's sizable advantage in that area, St. Francis will need to find a way to close that gap.
Living Word Lutheran took their win against St. Francis in their previous matchup back in September by a conclusive 3-0. Will Living Word Lutheran repeat their success, or does St. Francis have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
