The Northwestern Regional Highlanders are taking a road trip to face off against the Nonnewaug Chiefs at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
On Friday, Northwestern Regional made easy work of Housatonic and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win continues a trend for the Highlanders in their matchups with the Mountaineers: they've now won eight in a row.
Northwestern Regional walked away with the victory (and looked especially good in the first set). Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-18, 25-21.
Among those leading the charge was Sophie Stanulis, who had five digs and four aces. Sophia Schoonmaker also deserves some recognition as she had her first kill of the season.
They weren't the only good servers: Northwestern Regional was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 18 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 18 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Nonnewaug got the win against Pomperaug on Monday by a conclusive 3-0.
Nonnewaug never let Pomperaug on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. The final score came out to 25-20, 25-18, 26-24.
Northwestern Regional's record now sits at 10-3. As for Nonnewaug, their record is now 10-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Northwestern Regional has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 15.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Nonnewaug struggles in that department as they've been averaging 15.3 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Northwestern Regional might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Nonnewaug when the teams last played back in September. Can the Highlanders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
