The Gardner-Edgerton Trailblazers will head out to take on the Shawnee Mission East Lancers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Gardner-Edgerton came up short against Olathe West and fell 3-1. The Trailblazers have struggled against the Owls recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Gardner-Edgerton couldn't get the win, but they sure gave Olathe West a tough time in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 29-31, 25-20, 26-24.
Meanwhile, Shawnee Mission East came tearing into Thursday's matchup with ten straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Falcons by a score of 3-1.
Shawnee Mission East 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 13-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-16.
Gardner-Edgerton better focus on containing Jessie Hill and Adeline Clifford as the pair were huge in Shawnee Mission East's win. Hill had 14 digs and two aces, while Clifford had seven digs and five aces. Those five aces gave Clifford a new career-high.
Shawnee Mission East was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 11 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in 11 consecutive matches.
Shawnee Mission East's win bumped their record up to 13-6. As for Gardner-Edgerton, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: Gardner-Edgerton has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 5.9 aces per game. However, it's not like Shawnee Mission East struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Gardner-Edgerton took their victory against Shawnee Mission East in their previous meeting back in October of 2024 by a conclusive 3-0 score. Will the Trailblazers repeat their success, or do the Lancers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
