Volleyball Preview: Lincoln Patriots vs. Watertown Arrows
Lincoln and Watertown are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2016, but not for long. The Lincoln Patriots will head out on the road to take on the Watertown Arrows at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Lincoln took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Tea with a sharp 3-0 victory.
The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 25-10, 25-10.
Lincoln's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Julia Blom led the charge by getting nine digs.
Lincoln was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Watertown entered their tilt with Roosevelt on Tuesday with eight consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with nine. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over the Rough Riders.
Watertown never let Roosevelt on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-17, 25-18, 25-23.
Natalie Pearson and Emery Thury were among the main playmakers for Watertown as the former had eight digs and four aces and the latter hit 52.5% for 23 kills13 digs, two aces, and a block. Thury is on a roll when it comes to kills, as she's now had eight or more in the last 28 games she's played dating back to last season.
Lincoln now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Watertown, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Lincoln has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.6 aces per game. However, it's not like Watertown struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lincoln came up short against Watertown when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 3-1. Can Lincoln avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
