vs
| 10/15/24 - Home | 2-0 W |
| 10/10/23 - Away | 2-0 W |
| 08/29/23 - Home | 2-1 W |
| 10/18/22 - Neutral | 2-0 W |
| 09/23/21 - Away | 1-2 L |
| + 5 more games |
Lena-Winslow is 8-2 against Eastland since September of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Panthers will face off against the Cougars at 5:00 p.m. Eastland took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Lena-Winslow, who comes in off a win.
On Tuesday, Lena-Winslow was able to grind out a solid victory over Pecatonica, taking the game 2-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Panthers.
Lena-Winslow not only won, but also showed off some consistency: they kept Pecatonica between 15 and 16 points across their sets. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-16, 25-15.
Lena-Winslow's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Kieryn Getz, who had three digs and three aces, and Lila Grindey, who had 14 digs and two assists. That's the most assists Grindey has posted over her last six contests.
Meanwhile, Eastland unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-match winning streak on Tuesday. They fell 2-0 to Fulton.
Eastland was held off the scoreboard, but that almost wasn't the case: they kept the second set very close. The final score came out to 25-19, 25-22.
Lena-Winslow will have to keep a close watch on Keara Kaus and Morgan McCullough, a pair of players who had a big impact on Eastland's prior game. Kaus had 14 assists and seven digs, while McCullough had 11 digs. Kaus has been hot for a while, having posted 13 or more assists the last 35 times she's played.
Lena-Winslow's win bumped their record up to 13-11. As for Eastland, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 7-1 and their overall record down to 16-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Lena-Winslow has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 4.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Eastland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lena-Winslow was able to grind out a solid victory over Eastland in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, winning 2-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
