Mitchell is 2-8 against Lincoln since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Kernels are taking a road trip to challenge the Patriots at 6:30 p.m. Lincoln took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Mitchell, who comes in off a win.
While Mitchell didn't have the best season last year (they finished 3-20), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They won by a set and slipped past Brookings 3-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Kernels.
Mitchell wouldn't go down easily and took Brookings into a fifth set where they got it done with a eight-point win. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 15-7.
Londyn Hajek
| 09/23/25 vs Brookings | 4 |
| 09/18/25 vs Yankton | 3 |
| 08/29/25 vs Sturgis Brown | 3 |
| 09/09/25 @ Harrisburg | 2 |
| 08/30/25 vs Sturgis Brown | 2 |
Mitchell relied on the efforts of Cassidy Korzan, who had 19 digs and three aces, and Londyn Hajek, who had 12 digs and four assists. Those four assists gave Hajek a new career-high.
Meanwhile, Lincoln faced Harrisburg in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Patriots lost 3-0 to the Tigers. The Patriots haven't had much luck with the Tigers recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.
The match finished with set scores of 25-10, 25-15, 25-14.
Mitchell will have to keep a close watch on Julia Blom and Hayden Kok, a pair of players who had a big impact on Lincoln's prior game. Blom had eight digs and two assists, while Kok had five digs.
Lincoln's defeat dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Mitchell, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: Mitchell has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Lincoln struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.3 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mitchell suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Lincoln when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Can the Kernels avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
