On Thursday Gilmour Academy will have to hit the road after six straight games at home. After both having extra time off, they and the Padua Franciscan Bruins will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 7:30 p.m.
Gilmour Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They blew past Canfield 3-0.
Gilmour Academy walked away with the win (and looked especially good in the first set). The match finished with set scores of 25-10, 25-17, 25-17.
Gilmour Academy's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ella Jackson, who had six digs, four aces, and two kills. Jackson has been hot recently, having posted two or more aces the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Marlie Davis, who had 15 kills, six digs, two aces, and a block.
Gilmour Academy was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 18 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least seven aces in 14 consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Padua Franciscan had already won three in a row and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Rockets 3-2.
The match was a true back-and-forth as no team won consecutive sets, but in the end it was Padua Franciscan who won the one that mattered. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 27-29, 15-12.
Padua Franciscan found their leader in sophomore Cathryn Ruggiero, who had 15 digs and two aces. Those 15 digs set a new season-high mark for Ruggiero. Another player making a difference was Giulia Reginelli, who had 32 digs and a kill.
Gilmour Academy's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4. As for Padua Franciscan, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-12 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Gilmour Academy has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Padua Franciscan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Gilmour Academy took their win against Padua Franciscan in their previous meeting back in September of 2022 by a conclusive 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Gilmour Academy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
