Volleyball Preview: Ashley Screaming Eagle vs. Topsail Pirates
Ashley is 9-1 against Topsail since October of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Ashley Screaming Eagle will venture away from home to square off against the Topsail Pirates at 6:00 p.m. After both made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Tuesday.
Ashley took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over North Brunswick.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Ashley took every set by at least 12 points. After all that action, the final score was 25-8, 25-13, 25-6.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ashley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Claire Johnson, who had ten digs. The team also got some help courtesy of Kate Johnson, who had three aces and 11 assists.
She wasn't the only good server: Ashley was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 17 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in six consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Topsail didn't have done well against Laney recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Topsail blew past Laney 3-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Pirates.
The final score came out to 25-16, 25-15, 25-18.
Ashley pushed their record up to 6-10 with that win, which was their third straight at home. As for Topsail, their victory bumped their record up to 10-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Ashley has serving mastered this season, having averaged 8.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Topsail struggles in that department as they've been averaging 13. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Ashley was able to grind out a solid win over Topsail in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 3-1. Does Ashley have another victory up their sleeve, or will Topsail turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
