With a playoff win on the line, Elcho rose to the challenge on Thursday. They came out on top against the Lena Wildcats by a score of 3-1. That's more bragging rights for the Hornets, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
While Elcho might've won, it sure wasn't easy: Lena scored at least 18 points in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21.

Payton Malitz
| 10/23/25 vs Lena | 19 |
| 09/09/25 vs Faith Christian Academy | 16 |
| 09/16/25 @ Crandon | 14 |
| 10/16/25 @ Faith Christian Academy | 13 |
| 09/25/25 vs Phelps | 12 |
Leading Elcho to victory were Kayla Siemers and Payton Malitz. Siemers had 17 digs and one assist, while Malitz had four digs and two aces. The dominant performance also gave Malitz a new career-high in assists (19).
They weren't the only good servers: Elcho was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 12 consecutive contests.
Elcho is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 16-15 record this season. As for Lena, their loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 5-9.
Elcho has already played their next match, a 3-0 defeat against Suring on the 25th. Lena does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps