Volleyball Preview: Paulding Panthers vs. Ottoville Big Green
The Paulding Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Ottoville Big Green at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Paulding got the win against Hicksville by a conclusive 3-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Panthers have posted against the Aces since October 2, 2017.
Paulding walked away with the victory (and looked especially good in the first set). The final score came out to 25-15, 25-19, 25-17.
Grace Goyings was the offensive standout of the match as she had four digs and two aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Paulding was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 15 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in ten consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Ottoville came tearing into Tuesday's game with nine straight wins and they left with even more momentum. They had just enough and edged the Vikings out 3-2.
Ottoville wouldn't go down easily and took Leipsic into a fifth set where they got it done with a six-point win. The match finished with set scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 15-9.
Paulding's win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-10. As for Ottoville, they pushed their record up to 18-2 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Paulding has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Ottoville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Paulding came up short against Ottoville in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 3-1. Can Paulding avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
