The Daniel Lions will face off against the Greer Yellow Jackets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Daniel took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over Blue Ridge. The Lions haven't had any issues with the Fighting Tigers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-11, 25-11, 25-19.
Emily Gilstrap
| 10/14/25 vs Blue Ridge | 16 |
| 10/02/25 @ Berea | 14 |
| 09/09/25 vs Berea | 9 |
| 09/18/25 @ Blue Ridge | 7 |
| 10/07/25 vs Travelers Rest | 5 |
Daniel's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Emily Gilstrap led the charge by getting 16 assists and eight digs. Those 16 assists gave Gilstrap a new career-high.
Daniel was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Greer posted their closest win since September 4th on Thursday. They skirted past Seneca 3-2.
Greer wouldn't go down easily and took Seneca into a fifth set where they got it done with a ten-point win. The final score came out to 25-17, 25-16, 16-25, 21-25, 15-5.
Daniel better focus on containing Adison Howard and Ivey Tapp as the pair were huge in Greer's win. Howard had 28 digs, while Tapp had 23 assists and 13 digs. Howard is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 15 or more in each of the last three games she's played. Jacey Foster was another key player, getting 17 digs.
Greer's victory bumped their record up to 20-7. As for Daniel, their win bumped their record up to 24-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Daniel has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7 aces per game. However, it's not like Greer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Daniel was able to grind out a solid victory over Greer in their previous meeting back in September, winning 3-1. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Yellow Jackets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
