Volleyball Preview: Dobbs Ferry Eagles vs. Ursuline Koalas
The Dobbs Ferry Eagles's homestand will continue as they prepare to take on the Ursuline Koalas at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Dobbs Ferry will be strutting in after a win while Ursuline will be coming in after a defeat.
It was a Battle of the Birds when Dobbs Ferry duked it out withAlbertus Magnus on Wednesday. Dobbs Ferry narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Albertus Magnus 3-2.
Dobbs Ferry had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-9, 15-4.
Dobbs Ferry found their leader in underclassman Taylor Denike, who had 14 kills, 12 aces, five digs, and a block. The dominant performance gave Denike a new career-high in aces. The team also got some help courtesy of Naia Neuman, who had seven digs and two aces.
Dobbs Ferry was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 21 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 30 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Ursuline didn't have quite enough to beat Ketcham on Friday and fell 3-2. While the Koalas didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Indians 26-24 in the first set.
The match was exciting from start to finish, as three sets needed extra rallies to gain a two-point lead. The match finished with set scores of 24-26, 16-25, 28-26, 29-27, 15-12.
Despite the loss, Ursuline got top-tier performance from Catherine Hearle, who had 29 digs and four aces. Hearle has been hot recently, having posted ten or more digs the last four times she's played.
Dobbs Ferry pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Ursuline, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-12 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Dobbs Ferry has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 16.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Ursuline struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.9. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
