Upper Arlington is 1-7 against Lincoln since September of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Golden Bears will be taking part in a tournament against the Lions at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Upper Arlington hadn't beaten Hilliard Davidson on the road since September 20, 2022 but that history sure didn't bother them last Thursday. The Golden Bears won by a set and slipped past the Wildcats 3-2.
Upper Arlington took Hilliard Davidson into a fifth set where they got it done with a five-point win. The final score came out to 25-13, 25-16, 23-25, 17-25, 15-10.
Upper Arlington had a senior duo take command as Asha Chaudhari had 14 digs and three aces and Ellie Ness had ten digs and three aces.
Upper Arlington was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 23 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 16 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Lincoln, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They walked away with a 3-1 victory over Westerville North on Thursday.
Lincoln had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 11-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-4.
Lincoln's win bumped their record up to 10-12. As for Upper Arlington, their victory bumped their record up to 16-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Upper Arlington has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Lincoln struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Upper Arlington beat Lincoln 3-1 in their previous matchup back in August. Will the Golden Bears repeat their success, or do the Lions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
