Loyola Academy is 1-9 against Mother McAuley since October of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Loyola Academy Ramblers will head out on the road to challenge the Mother McAuley Mighty Macs at 6:00 p.m. Loyola Academy is coming into the match hot, having won their last five games.
Last Thursday, Loyola Academy narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past IC Catholic Prep 2-1.
Loyola Academy had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next two. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-14.
Meanwhile, Mother McAuley faced St. Francis in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. Mother McAuley walked away with a 2-0 victory over St. Francis. The win was familiar territory for the Mighty Macs who have now won three games in a row.
Mother McAuley didn't let St. Francis take a single set, but it sure wasn't easy: every set was decided by three points or less. The match finished with set scores of 26-24, 25-22.
Mother McAuley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Sydney Buchanan out in front who had ten digs, six kills, three aces, and two blocks. Buchanan is on a roll when it comes to kills, as she's now had six or more in the last six games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Abbey Williams, who had ten kills, ten digs, and four blocks.
She was just one part of a dominant defense: Mother McAuley kept the net locked down and finished the game with 11 blocks. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now had at least six blocks in 26 consecutive matchups.
Loyola Academy is on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 22-4 record this season. As for Mother McAuley, they pushed their record up to 23-3 with the win, which was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season.
Loyola Academy came up short against Mother McAuley in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 2-0. Can Loyola Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
