Volleyball Game Preview: Waterloo Vikings vs. East Palestine Bulldogs

The Waterloo Vikings will take on the East Palestine Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Waterloo didn't have quite enough to beat Southeast and fell 3-2. The Vikings have struggled against the Pirates recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.

Waterloo wouldn't go down easily and took Southeast into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking ten-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 15-25, 25-12, 25-20, 14-25, 15-5.

Meanwhile, East Palestine got the win against Liberty on Thursday by a conclusive 3-0.

One reason for the win was East Palestine's just kept getting better, winning each set by more points than the last. The final score came out to 25-17, 25-15, 25-8.

The victory got East Palestine back to even at 11-11. As for Waterloo, their loss dropped their record down to 5-17.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Waterloo has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.2 aces per game. However, it's not like East Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 14 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Waterloo was able to grind out a solid win over East Palestine in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vikings since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.