The Luther Prep Phoenix will challenge the Marshall Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Luther Prep took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Dodgeland 3-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Phoenix have posted since October 1st.
The win didn't come easy: Dodgeland scored at least 16 points in every set. The final score came out to 25-12, 25-16, 25-16.
Luther Prep found their leader in sophomore Elizabeth Kieselhorst, who had ten digs and two aces. Kieselhorst has been hot recently, having posted two or more aces the last three times she's played.
Kieselhorst wasn't the only good server: Luther Prep was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 18 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Marshall had no problem doing just that on Thursday. They put the hurt on the Marshmen with a sharp 3-0 victory.
Marshall got the W, but it wasn't easy, at least in the third set. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 25-11, 55-18.
Kennedy Weisensel was nothing short of spectacular: she had 19 digs and five aces. That's the most aces she has posted since back in October of 2023.
Luther Prep is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 27-10 record this season. As for Marshall, their win bumped their record up to 24-11.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's contest: Luther Prep has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Marshall struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Luther Prep took their victory against Marshall in their previous meeting back in September of 2020 by a conclusive 3-0. Will Luther Prep repeat their success, or does Marshall have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
