Russia has gone 10-0 against Botkins recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Russia Raiders and the Botkins Trojans are set to duel. Russia will be strutting in after a victory while Botkins will be coming in after a loss.
Russia took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Houston with a sharp 3-0 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Raiders have posted since September 10th.
While Russia might've won, it sure wasn't easy: Houston scored at least 16 points in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-14, 25-12, 25-16.
Among those leading the charge was Kourtney Phlipot, who had ten digs. She is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had ten or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
Russia was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Botkins was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They came up short against Jackson Center, falling 3-0.
Botkins took the loss but they managed to make steady progress, increasing their score in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-12, 25-18, 25-19.
Despite the loss, Botkins saw an underclassman step up: Madison Loy had 19 digs.
Russia's win bumped their record up to 8-11. As for Botkins, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 8-11.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Russia has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Botkins struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.5. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Russia's way against Botkins in their previous matchup back in September, as Russia made off with a 3-0 victory. Will Russia repeat their success, or does Botkins have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
