The Black River Pirates are taking a road trip to challenge the Brookside Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Black River is headed into the match having just suffered their biggest loss since October 3, 2024 on Thursday. They came up short against Firelands, falling 3-0. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back matches.
While Black River had to settle for second, they sure made a game of it, scoring at least 18 points in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-19.
Remington Dieter
| 10/02/25 @ Firelands | 22 |
| 09/30/25 @ Wellington | 35 |
| 09/29/25 @ Lucas | 17 |
Black River's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Remington Dieter, who had 22 digs and two assists, and Kate Dieter, who had 17 digs and one assist. Remington is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 17 or more in each of the last three games she's played. Haley Jackson also deserves some recognition as she had her first kill of the season.
Meanwhile, Brookside didn't have quite enough to beat Wellington on Thursday and fell 3-2. The Cardinals haven't had much luck with the Dukes recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.
Brookside wouldn't go down easily and took Wellington into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking ten-point loss. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-9, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-5.
Black River will have to contain Sydney Adkins as she made an impact in Brookside's last game. She had 13 digs and six aces.
Brookside's loss dropped their record down to 7-11. As for Black River, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Black River has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 13.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Brookside struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Black River skirted past Brookside 3-2 when the teams last played back in September. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Pirates since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
