Volleyball Game Preview: Hayden Wildcats vs. Mill Valley Jaguars

The Hayden Wildcats are taking a road trip to challenge the Mill Valley Jaguars at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hayden comes in on five and Mill Valley on 11.

Hayden is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kansas' top teams: Gardner-Edgerton, who was ranked 21st at the time (Hayden was ranked 15th). The Wildcats won by a set and slipped past the Trailblazers 2-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Wildcats have posted since September 13th.

Hayden had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next two. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-19, 25-23.

Hayden can attribute much of their success to Ella Foster, who had 14 digs and five assists. That's the most assists Foster has posted since back in November of 2024. Clare Chisham also deserves some recognition as she posted her first assist of the season.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Mill Valley took on Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday. The Jaguars had just enough and edged out the Cougars 3-2.

Mill Valley wouldn't go down easily and took Shawnee Mission Northwest into a fifth set where they got it done with a two-point win. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 21-25, 15-13.

Hayden's record is now 26-7. As for Mill Valley, their record now sits at 26-4.

Hayden came up short against Mill Valley in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, falling 2-0. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.