Volleyball Preview: Clayton Bears vs. Shell Lake Lakers
The Clayton Bears will head out to square off against the Shell Lake Lakers at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Clayton is no doubt hoping to put an end to a six-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Tuesday, Clayton came up short against Clear Lake and fell 3-1. While the Bears didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Warriors 25-16 in the first period.
Clayton started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21.
Despite their loss, Clayton saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Macy Grosskreutz, who had ten digs, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Christine Pickard, who had seven digs and two aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Clayton was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in four consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Shell Lake was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their ninth straight defeat. They fell 3-1 to Turtle Lake.
The loss didn't mean the game wasn't competitive: Turtle Lake scored at least 18 points in every set. The final score came out to 25-18, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22.
Despite the defeat, Shell Lake got top-tier performance from Alexa Dahlstrom, who had 23 digs and three aces. That's the most aces Dahlstrom has posted in her last 13 games.
Clayton's loss dropped their record down to 7-17. As for Shell Lake, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-14.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Clayton has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.9 aces per game. However, it's not like Shell Lake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Clayton came up short against Shell Lake when the teams last played back in September, falling 3-1. Can Clayton 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
