Kirtland is 9-1 against Berkshire since September of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Kirtland Hornets will welcome the Berkshire Badgers at 6:30 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Last Tuesday, Kirtland made easy work of Beachwood and carried off a 3-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hornets.
After all that action, the final score was 25-23, 25-10, 25-10.
Kirtland got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Nina Alfieri out in front who had nine digs and four aces. The dominant performance gave her a new career- in aces. Riley Javins was another key player, getting five digs and three aces.
Javins wasn't the only one working in the aces department: Kirtland was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 12 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Berkshire, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They blew past Crestwood 3-0 on Tuesday.
The final score came out to 25-21, 25-22, 25-18.
Ava Chuha went supernova for Berkshire, getting nine digs and two aces. Chuha is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted ten or more in the last six games she's played dating back to last season.
Kirtland's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. As for Berkshire, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Kirtland has serving mastered this season, having averaged 10.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Berkshire struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Kirtland was able to grind out a solid win over Berkshire when the teams last played back in October of 2023, winning 3-1. Will Kirtland repeat their success, or does Berkshire have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
