Holmen is on an eight-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Onalaska is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Vikings will host the Hilltoppers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
On Tuesday, Holmen made easy work of Tomah and carried off a 3-0 win.
Holmen never let Tomah on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 25-22, 25-12.
Onalaska not only won on Thursday, but they posted their biggest win since September 16th (when they won 3-0). They put the hurt on Tomah with a sharp 3-0 victory.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-16, 25-10, 25-14.
Onalaska's win came from a few key players Holmen will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mckenzie Bauer, who had 18 digs and two assists. She is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had ten or more in each of the last 11 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Kayla Ketelhut, who had nine digs and four aces.
Onalaska was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Tomah only served five.
Holmen's win bumped their record up to 28-0. As for Onalaska, their victory bumped their record up to 17-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Holmen has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8 aces per game. However, it's not like Onalaska struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 6.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Holmen took their win against Onalaska in their previous meeting back in September by a conclusive 3-0 score. Will the Vikings repeat their success, or do the Hilltoppers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.