After both having extra time off, the Southern Tornadoes and the Manchester Greyhounds will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Southern is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.
Southern saw some tournament action on Tuesday. They put the hurt on St. Joseph Central with a sharp 3-0 win.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Southern took every set by at least 20 points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-5, 25-4, 25-4.
Southern got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Taylor Roberts out in front who had five aces. Katie Caldwell also deserves some recognition as she served her first aces of the season.
They weren't the only good servers: Southern was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 25 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Manchester beat Glenwood 3-1 on Tuesday.
Manchester 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 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17.
Southern's win bumped their record up to 19-2. As for Manchester, their victory bumped their record up to 8-12.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Southern has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Manchester struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Southern took their win against Manchester in their previous matchup back in October of 2021 by a conclusive 3-0 score. Will the Tornadoes repeat their success, or do the Greyhounds have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
