The St. Louis University Junior Bills will head out on the road to face off against the Belleville East Lancers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Louis University will come into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
St. Louis University is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: Lutheran, who was ranked 14th at the time (St. Louis University was ranked first). The Junior Bills put the hurt on the Cougars with a sharp 3-0 victory on Monday.
St. Louis University never let Lutheran on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 25-14, 26-24.
Among those leading the charge was Henry Benson, who had 13 digs and one assist. Those 13 digs gave him a new career-high. Joe Coovert also deserves some recognition as he posted his first assist of the season.
St. Louis University was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lutheran only served one ace.
Meanwhile, Belleville East is still undefeated this season after their game against Collinsville on Thursday, but Collinsville came as close as anyone has to beating them. The Lancers came within a single set of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Kahoks. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Lancers have posted since April 18, 2024.
It was an exciting match in which no team won back-to-back sets, but at the end of the day Belleville East got the one that really mattered. The final score came out to 25-16, 23-25, 25-15.
St. Louis University better keep an eye on Andrew Neutzling. He was instrumental in Belleville East's win, getting 11 digs and one assist.
Belleville East's victory was their 14th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. As for St. Louis University, their record is now an identical 8-0.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: St. Louis University has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Belleville East struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Louis University came up short against Belleville East when the teams last played back in April of 2024, falling 3-1. Can the Junior Bills avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
