Volleyball Game Preview: Thoreau Hawks vs. Wingate Bears

Thoreau is a perfect 10-0 against Wingate since October of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Hawks will head out to square off against the Bears at 6:00 p.m. Thoreau will be strutting in after a victory while Wingate will be coming in after a loss.

Thoreau barely beat Zuni the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Hawks put the hurt on the Thunderbirds with a sharp 3-0 win on Thursday. The victory continues a trend for the Hawks in their matchups with the Thunderbirds: they've now won six in a row.

Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-9, 25-11, 25-16.

Payton Charley

Serving Aces (Career)

10/30/25 @ Zuni	5
10/07/25 @ Tohatchi	4
10/21/25 vs Newcomb	1
10/16/25 vs Crownpoint	1
10/14/25 vs Wingate	1

Thoreau can attribute much of their success to Payton Charley, who had five aces and three digs. Those five aces gave Charley a new career-high.

Charley wasn't the only good servers: Thoreau was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least ten aces in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Wingate was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their eighth straight defeat. They came up short against Tohatchi, falling 3-0.

The match finished with set scores of 25-14, 25-12, 25-5.

Wingate's loss dropped their record down to 1-18. As for Thoreau, their win bumped their record up to 9-13-1.

Thoreau took their victory against Wingate when the teams last played back in October by a conclusive 3-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.