The St. Ursula Academy Bulldogs are taking a road trip to challenge the Kings Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Kings took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on St. Ursula Academy, who comes in off a win.
St. Ursula Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Ohio's top teams: Archbishop McNicholas, who was ranked seventh at the time (St. Ursula Academy was ranked eighth). The Bulldogs came out on top against the Rockets by a score of 3-1 on Thursday. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Rockets recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive win against them.
The victory didn't come easy: Archbishop McNicholas scored at least 20 points in every set. The final score came out to 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21.
Meanwhile, Kings unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-match winning streak on Monday. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Mason. While the Knights didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Comets 25-20 in the first set.
Kings started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20.
St. Ursula Academy will have to contain Kennady Horsley as she made an impact in Kings' last game. She had 21 digs and one assist. Horsley is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had ten or more in each of the last five games she's played.
St. Ursula Academy's win bumped their record up to 14-8. As for Kings, their defeat dropped their record down to 18-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: St. Ursula Academy has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Kings struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Ursula Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Kings in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
