Basketball Game Preview: Volunteer Falcons vs. Gate City Blue Devils

The Volunteer Falcons and the Gate City Blue Devils will face off at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Volunteer has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Volunteer is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Claiborne: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Volunteer blew Claiborne out of the water with a 61-32 final score. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Falcons had established a 23 point advantage.

Volunteer can attribute much of their success to Courtney Bellamy, who posted 16 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals, and Elisabeth Byington, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine boards. That's the most points Byington has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Emilee Mailloux, who earned ten points and three steals.

Volunteer smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Gate City came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points) and they left with even more momentum. They escaped with a win against the Falcons by the margin of a single free throw, 44-43. While the Blue Devils didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Volunteer pushed their record up to 10-9 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.7 points per game. As for Gate City, their win bumped their record up to 8-1.

Volunteer beat Gate City 51-39 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Does Volunteer have another victory up their sleeve, or will Gate City turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.