Volleyball Preview: St. Francis Mariners vs. Living Word Lutheran Timberwolves
St. Francis hasn't had much luck against Living Word Lutheran recently, but that could start to change on Friday. After both having extra time off, both will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 3:00 p.m. St. Francis will be strutting in after a victory while Living Word Lutheran will be coming in after a loss.
Living Word Lutheran is hoping to do what Messmer couldn't on Thursday: put an end to St. Francis' winning streak, which now stands at three games. St. Francis was the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over Messmer.
The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant St. Francis was: they took every set by at least 11 points. The match finished with set scores of 25-8, 25-7, 25-14.
St. Francis was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least ten aces in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Living Word Lutheran entered their matchup against Lake Country Lutheran on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Living Word Lutheran fell just short of Lake Country Lutheran by a score of 3-2. It was the first time this season that the Timberwolves let down their fans at home.
In an exciting match in which no team claimed back-to-back wins, Living Word Lutheran sadly wound up on the wrong side. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 21-25, 15-10.
Despite the defeat, Living Word Lutheran had strong showings from Emree Kellerman, who had nine digs, a kill, and 39 assists, and Aria Wessel, who had 24 digs. Kellerman is on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 13 or more in the last 20 games she's played dating back to last season.
St. Francis' win bumped their record up to 13-14. As for Living Word Lutheran, their loss ended a 14-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 23-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: St. Francis has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7 aces per game. However, it's not like Living Word Lutheran struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Francis might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Living Word Lutheran when the teams last played back in September. Can St. Francis avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
