Volleyball Game Preview: Mineral Ridge Rams vs. Mapleton Mounties

After both having extra time off, the Mineral Ridge Rams and the Mapleton Mounties will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mineral Ridge will be strutting in after a victory while Mapleton will be coming in after a defeat.

On Wednesday, Mineral Ridge got the win against Jackson-Milton by a conclusive 3-0. The Rams haven't had any issues with the Bluejays recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.

Mineral Ridge walked away with the victory (and looked especially good in the second set). The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-12, 25-17.

Meanwhile, Mapleton lost 3-0 to Monroeville on Thursday. The Mounties have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back matches.

Mapleton was held off the scoreboard, but that almost wasn't the case: they kept the second set very close. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-16, 25-22, 25-20.

Mineral Ridge will have to contain Paige Beattie as she made an impact in Mapleton's last game. She had 19 digs and eight assists. Beattie has been hot, having posted 14 or more digs the last five times she's played. Emilee Stolcals also deserves some recognition as she had her first block of the season.

Mineral Ridge's win bumped their record up to 17-5. As for Mapleton, their loss dropped their record down to 5-17.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Mineral Ridge has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.6 aces per game. However, it's not like Mapleton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.