The Gretna Dragons will square off against the Lincoln Northwest Falcons on Thursday. Lincoln Northwest took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Gretna, who comes in off a win.
Gretna took a loss when they played away from home last Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Hastings as they made off with a 3-0 win. The Dragons haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Gretna was: they took every set by at least ten points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 25-12, 25-5.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Gretna to victory, but perhaps none more so than Lily Zimmerman, who had nine digs and one assist. Claire Luthi also deserves some recognition as she served her first ace of the season.
Gretna was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 13 aces. That's the most aces they've posted since back in September.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Northwest came up short against Elkhorn on Thursday and fell 2-0.
The match finished with set scores of 25-14, 25-18.
Gretna will have to keep a close watch on Daimani Gersib and Hannah Pearson, a pair of players who had a big impact on Lincoln Northwest's prior game. Gersib had three digs and three aces, while Pearson had nine digs and one assist.
Gretna's win bumped their record up to 20-5. As for Lincoln Northwest, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 7-20 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Gretna has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Northwest struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Gretna's way against Lincoln Northwest when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as Gretna made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Dragons have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Falcons turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
