The Central Wisconsin Christian Crusaders and the Valley Christian Warriors are set to duel on Thursday. Central Wisconsin Christian is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.
Central Wisconsin Christian is headed into the match having just posted their biggest win since September 16th on Tuesday. They blew past Horicon 3-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Crusaders have posted against the Marshmen since September 25, 2018.
While Central Wisconsin Christian won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the second set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 26-24, 25-16.
Central Wisconsin Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Lauren Ruis led the charge by getting 25 digs and two aces. Ruis is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 14 or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Taylor Hoffman, who had nine digs, four kills, and 26 assists.
Meanwhile, Valley Christian sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over Lourdes on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Warriors.
Valley Christian took Lourdes 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 25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 17-25, 17-15.
Valley Christian relied on the efforts of Aubryn Lehman, who had 14 digs and two aces, and Anna E. Giannopoulos, who had 21 digs, 15 kills, and seven aces. That's the most aces Lehman has posted in her last nine contests.
Central Wisconsin Christian has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season. As for Valley Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 18-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Central Wisconsin Christian has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Valley Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.5. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Central Wisconsin Christian might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Valley Christian when the teams last played back in September of 2023. Thankfully for Central Wisconsin Christian, Katie Wallace (who had 15 digs and three aces) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps