Volleyball Game Preview: Temple Tigers vs. Pepperell Dragons

Temple is 1-9 against Pepperell since October of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Tigers will challenge the Dragons at 10:30 a.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with four losses in a row, Temple turned things around against Greenville last Thursday. They walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Patriots.

The 2-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Temple was: they took both sets by at least 19 points. The match finished with set scores of 25-6, 25-5.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Pepperell, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over Greenville on Thursday. The Dragons haven't had any issues with the Patriots recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.

Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Pepperell took every set by at least 20 points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-4, 25-5, 25-5.

Temple better keep an eye on Aleksah Stroud. She was instrumental in Pepperell's win, getting 18 aces and two assists. That's the most assists Stroud has posted over her last eight matches. Haley Pomell also deserves some recognition as she served her first aces of the season.

Pepperell was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 39 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.

Temple's record now sits at 12-21. As for Pepperell, their record is now 21-14.

Temple came up short against Pepperell in their previous meeting last Tuesday, falling 2-0. Can the Tigers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.