Volleyball Preview: Mother McAuley Mighty Macs vs. St. Ursula Academy Bulldogs
The Mother McAuley Mighty Macs are on the road again on Saturday to play the St. Ursula Academy Bulldogs at 10:00 a.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Mother McAuley beat Tournament Opponent 2-0.
The 2-0 doesn't show just how dominant Mother McAuley was: they took both sets by at least eight points. After all that action, the final score was 25-7, 25-17.
Mother McAuley got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Peyton Heatherly out in front who had three aces and two blocks. Heatherly is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted eight or more in the last 17 games she's played dating back to last season. Cayla Prohaska was another key player, getting six aces, four digs, and three blocks.
She wasn't the only good server: Mother McAuley was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. That's the most aces they've posted since back in August of 2023.
Meanwhile, St. Ursula Academy is ranked highly in their home state and on Friday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Clearwater Central Catholic. St. Ursula Academy won by a set and slipped past Clearwater Central Catholic 2-1. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bulldogs.
St. Ursula Academy was staring down a 1-0 deficit headed into the second set, but they rallied to take the next three for the win. After all that action, the final score was 23-25, 25-20, 25-22.
Emsley Venard had a dynamite game for St. Ursula Academy, getting five aces and a block. The dominant performance gave Venard a new career-high in aces.
Mother McAuley's victory was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-0. As for St. Ursula Academy, their record now sits at 8-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Mother McAuley hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 11 blocks per game. It's a different story for St. Ursula Academy, though, as they've been averaging only 1.1. Given Mother McAuley's sizable advantage in that area, St. Ursula Academy will need to find a way to close that gap.
Mother McAuley was able to grind out a solid win over St. Ursula Academy in their previous meeting back in September of 2017, winning 2-0. Will Mother McAuley repeat their success, or does St. Ursula Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
