University hasn't had much luck against Morgantown recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The University Hawks will square off against the Morgantown Mohigans at 6:30 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
University is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of West Virginia's top teams: John Marshall, who was ranked 21st in their home state at the time (University was ranked fourth). University walked away with a 3-1 win over John Marshall on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hawks.
University had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21.
Meanwhile, Morgantown waltzed into their contest last Tuesday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They put the hurt on the Monarchs with a sharp 3-0 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Mohigans have posted since August 29th.
Morgantown never let John Marshall on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 25-13, 27-25.
Among those leading the charge was Audrey Buck, who hit 71.4% for five kills11 digs, three aces, and two blocks. She is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 20 or more in the last six games she's played dating back to last season.
University's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 23-4-1. As for Morgantown, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 21-2 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: University has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Morgantown struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
University came up short against Morgantown when the teams last played back in September, falling 3-1. Can University avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
