Volleyball Game Preview: Eldon Mustangs vs. Smith-Cotton Tigers

The Eldon Mustangs are taking a road trip to challenge the Smith-Cotton Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Eldon has four straight wins, Smith-Cotton has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Jaidyn Shelden

Digs

10/09/25 @ Versailles	14
10/06/25 @ Southern Boone	26
10/02/25 vs Osage	24
09/29/25 @ Lebanon	34
09/27/25 vs Marshfield	10

If Versailles wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Eldon, they should've done a better job of containing Jaidyn Shelden. The Mustangs blew past the Tigers 3-0 on Thursday with plenty of help from Shelden, who had 14 digs and three aces. She has been hot, having posted ten or more digs the last five times she's played.

One reason for the win was Eldon's just kept getting better, winning each set by more points than the last. The final score came out to 25-18, 25-11, 25-10.

Meanwhile, Smith-Cotton lost 3-0 to Capital City on Thursday.

While Smith-Cotton was kept off the board, it wasn't for a lack of trying: they cut into Capital City's winning margin in every set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-10, 25-23, 28-26.

Smith-Cotton's defeat dropped their record down to 9-17-3. As for Eldon, their victory bumped their record up to 13-9.

Eldon might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Smith-Cotton when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Tigers' Piper Cantrell, who had 40 digs and one assist. Now that the Mustangs know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.