After both having extra time off, the Valley Indians and the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes will shake off the rust and duke it out at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
Valley is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Wheelersburg just ended the team's four-match winning streak last Thursday. They came up short against the Pirates, falling 3-0.
Valley was was forced to take the loss, but they sure made Wheelersburg work for it, especially in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-18, 25-11, 26-24.
Meanwhile, Nelsonville-York made easy work of Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington on Tuesday and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Buckeyes.
While Nelsonville-York won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the second set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-10.
Nelsonville-York's win came from a few key players Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ella Vohlken, who had nine digs and six aces. That's the most aces she has posted over her last six matchups.
Nelsonville-York was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 16 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in seven consecutive matches.
Nelsonville-York now has a winning record of 12-11. As for Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 16-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's contest: Valley has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 11.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Nelsonville-York struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.7 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Valley suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Nelsonville-York in their previous matchup back in October of 2024. Will the Indians have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
