Volleyball Game Preview: Holy Cross Cougars vs. St. Xavier Tigers

Holy Cross hasn't had much luck against St. Xavier recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Cougars will venture away from home to challenge the Tigers at 6:30 p.m.

Holy Cross is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: DeSales, who was ranked third at the time (Holy Cross was ranked 17th). The Cougars lost 3-0 to the Colts on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, St. Xavier came tearing into Monday's game with 21 straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Bruins as they made off with a 3-0 victory.

Holy Cross better keep an eye on Dalton Lutes. He was instrumental in St. Xavier's win, getting 12 digs and six aces. Those six aces gave Lutes a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Isaac Kaufman, who had 21 assists.

St. Xavier couldn't miss and finished the game having scored on 65.5% of their attack attempts. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a hitting percentage of 50% or higher in three consecutive matches.

St. Xavier's record now sits at 22-1. As for Holy Cross, they now have a losing record of 5-6.

Holy Cross suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to St. Xavier when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.