Volleyball Preview: St. Henry Crusaders vs. Bowling Green Purples
The St. Henry Crusaders will venture away from home to face off against the Bowling Green Purples at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
St. Henry is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Ryle, who was ranked fifth in their home state at the time (St. Henry was ranked fourth). St. Henry blew past Ryle 3-0 on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Crusaders.
While St. Henry won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 25-16, 25-23.
Meanwhile, Bowling Green entered their tilt with Elizabethtown on Tuesday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Everything went their way against the Panthers as they made off with a 3-0 win.
Bowling Green never let Elizabethtown on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-14, 25-22, 25-11.
Claire Lawless went supernova for Bowling Green, getting 11 digs and five aces. Lawless is on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served two or more in the last four games she's played dating back to last season.
Bowling Green 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 six aces in five consecutive matches.
St. Henry is on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 19 games, which provided a nice bump to their 29-4 record this season. As for Bowling Green, their victory bumped their record up to 27-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: St. Henry has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7 aces per game. However, it's not like Bowling Green struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went St. Henry's way against Bowling Green in their previous matchup back in November of 2021, as St. Henry made off with a 3-0 win. Will St. Henry repeat their success, or does Bowling Green have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
