Florence hasn't had much luck against Newman recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Florence Bobcats will square off against the Newman Fighting Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Florence sitting on six straight wins and Newman on 15.
Florence is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They put the hurt on Niagara with a sharp 3-0 victory.
Florence never let Niagara on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 25-23, 25-16.
Audrey Franz was the offensive standout of the matchup as she had nine digs.
Meanwhile, everything went Newman's way against Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran on Thursday as Newman made off with a 3-0 win.
Newman's got stronger as the match went on, holding Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran to fewer and fewer points set over set. The final score came out to 26-24, 25-22, 25-18.
Newman was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in four consecutive contests.
Florence's victory bumped their record up to 30-8-1. As for Newman, they are on a roll lately: they've won 16 of their last 17 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 28-13 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's game: Florence has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 9.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Newman struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Florence might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Newman in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Florence avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
