Volleyball Preview: Van Buren Black Knights vs. Bluffton Pirates
The Van Buren Black Knights will head out to face off against the Bluffton Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Van Buren took a loss when they played away from home last Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They blew past Vanlue 3-0.
Van Buren walked away with the victory (and looked especially good in the third set). The final score came out to 25-16, 25-18, 25-11.
Bailey Lance had an outrageously good game as she had 13 digs and nine aces. Those nine aces gave her a new career-high.
She wasn't the only good server: Van Buren was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Vanlue only served three.
Meanwhile, Bluffton had already won four in a row and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 3-0 win.
The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-19.
Among those leading the charge was Avery Talavinia, who had ten digs.
Van Buren has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. As for Bluffton, their record is now 18-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Van Buren hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 4.8 blocks per game. It's a different story for Bluffton, though, as they've been averaging only 1.4. Given Van Buren's sizable advantage in that area, Bluffton will need to find a way to close that gap.
Van Buren might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Bluffton in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Van Buren 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
