Volleyball Preview: Central Golden Eagles vs. Amherst-Pelham Regional Hurricanes
Central is 1-8 against Amherst-Pelham Regional since October of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Central Golden Eagles will face off against the Amherst-Pelham Regional Hurricanes at 6:00 p.m.
It was a Battle of the Birds when Central took on Minnechaug Regional on Tuesday. Central took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Minnechaug Regional.
The match finished with set scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-15.
Even though they lost, Central was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 17 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in 18 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Amherst-Pelham Regional had just enough and edged Westfield out 3-2 on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hurricanes.
If you add up the scores from across all five sets (104-92) Amherst-Pelham Regional actually scored fewer points, but in the end it didn't matter. The match finished with set scores of 11-25, 25-20, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13.
Amherst-Pelham Regional got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ella Austin out in front who had five digs and two aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Rosalie Davis, who had six digs and two aces.
Central's loss dropped their record down to 5-11. As for Amherst-Pelham Regional, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Central has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 16.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Amherst-Pelham Regional struggles in that department as they've been averaging 13.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Central came up short against Amherst-Pelham Regional in their previous matchup back in September, falling 3-1. Can Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
