The Paulding Panthers will face off against the Continental Pirates at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Paulding is coming into the contest hot, having won their last seven games.
Paulding took a three-set defeat the last time they faced off against Ottoville, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Panthers had just enough and edged out the Big Green 3-2 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since September 8th.
Paulding had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 18-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-13, 15-13.
Paulding's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Tori Schlatter, who had 19 digs and five aces. That's the most aces Schlatter has posted since back in September. The team also got some help courtesy of Libby Breier, who had ten digs and two aces.
They weren't the only good servers: Paulding was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in seven consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Continental's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They lost 3-0 to Miller City.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-10, 25-19.
Paulding's win bumped their record up to 15-4. As for Continental, they now have a losing record of 9-10.
Paulding beat Continental 3-1 in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Pirates have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
