Appleton North is on a five-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Kaukauna is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Kaukauna took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Appleton North, who comes in off a win.
Appleton North is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Wisconsin's top teams: Fond du Lac, who was ranked 25th at the time (Appleton North was ranked fourth). The Lightning blew past the Cardinals 3-0 on Tuesday.
Appleton North never let Fond du Lac on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. The final score came out to 25-16, 26-24, 25-15.
SAOLAI THAO was the offensive standout of the contest as he had 11 assists and six digs. PHINNEAS MODDER also deserves some recognition as he had his first block of the season.
Meanwhile, Kaukauna unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-match winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Appleton West by a score of 3-2. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since October 27, 2021, but that streak is no more.
Kaukauna actually scored more points across those five sets (106-102), but sadly they still had to settle for second. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 17-25, 17-15.
Appleton North's win bumped their record up to 18-6. As for Kaukauna, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 18-12.
Everything went Appleton North's way against Kaukauna in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as Appleton North made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Lightning have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Galloping Ghosts turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.