Dalton has gone 9-1 against Norwayne recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Dalton Bulldogs' homestand will continue as they prepare to take on the Norwayne Bobcats at 7:00 p.m. Dalton will be strutting in after a win while Norwayne will be coming in after a loss.
Dalton will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Waynedale, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Dalton skirted past Waynedale 3-2.
Dalton had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 24-26, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-11.
Dalton relied on the efforts of Brenna Raber, who had 12 digs and two aces, and Chloe Ruehling, who had 11 digs and three aces. Raber is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 12 or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
Dalton was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Norwayne unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell 3-1 to Smithville. While the Bobcats didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Smithies 25-18 in the first set.
Norwayne started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15.
Dalton's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-0. As for Norwayne, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Dalton has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8 aces per game. However, it's not like Norwayne struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Dalton skirted past Norwayne 3-2 in their previous meeting back in September. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Norwayne's Kendra Berger, who had 38 digs. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Dalton still be able to contain Berger? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
