The Jacobs Golden Eagles will venture away from home to take on the Dundee-Crown Chargers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Jacobs didn't have quite enough to beat Crystal Lake Central and fell 2-1. While the Golden Eagles didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Tigers 25-18 in the first set.
The 2-1 doesn't really show just how close this match was: all the sets Jacobs lost were decided by three points or less. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 18-25, 25-23, 25-23.
Jacobs' loss came about despite a quality game from Rylee Van Stone, who had 13 digs and one assist.
Meanwhile, Dundee-Crown waltzed into their match on Wednesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They walked away with a 2-0 win over the Royals.
The 2-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Dundee-Crown was: they took both sets by at least 17 points. The final score came out to 25-8, 25-7.
Dundee-Crown's win came from a few key players Jacobs will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nina Marcant, who had ten digs and four aces. That's the most digs she has posted over her last seven matchups. Another player making a difference was Maura Minogue, who had ten digs and two assists.
Dundee-Crown was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least nine aces in three consecutive contests.
This is the second loss in a row for Jacobs and nudges their season record down to 15-17. As for Dundee-Crown, their record is now 10-16.
Jacobs came up short against Dundee-Crown in their previous meeting back in September, falling 2-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Chargers' Tori Brents, who had five digs, five aces, and two blocks. Now that the Golden Eagles know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
