The Burns Bulldogs will take on the Lincolnton Wolves at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Lincolnton will challenge a team with plenty of momentum: Burns extended their winning streak to four on Thursday. The Bulldogs were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over Shelby. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since October 10, 2023, but that streak is no more.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-11, 25-16, 25-8.
Burns can attribute much of their success to Jordan Walker, who had seven digs and two aces.
They weren't the only good servers: Burns was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in four consecutive contests.
If West Lincoln wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Lincolnton, they should've done a better job of containing Akira Connor. The Wolves put the hurt on the Rebels with a sharp 3-0 win on Thursday for which the team can thank Connor, who had 32 digs. She has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more digs the last 13 times she's played.
While Lincolnton won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The final score came out to 25-13, 25-17, 25-23.
Burns' victory bumped their record up to 19-5. As for Lincolnton, their win bumped their record up to 12-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Monday's matchup: Burns has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Lincolnton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Burns suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Lincolnton in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Will the Bulldogs have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more volleyball content.
