Foran and Branford are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2016, but not for long. The Foran Lions will host the Branford Hornets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Foran's favor as the team sits on eight straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Branford has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road also dating back to last season.
Foran will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Shelton, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Foran came out on top against Shelton by a score of 3-1 on Monday.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-17, 25-19, 25-27, 25-23.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Foran to victory, but perhaps none more so than Gracie Brooks, who had 16 digs, 15 kills, and 15 kills. Brooks is on a roll when it comes to kills, as she's now had ten or more in the last four games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Gaby Magnuson, who had 26 digs and three aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Foran 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 six aces in ten consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Branford got the win against East Haven on Monday by a conclusive 3-0.
Branford's not only won, but also showed off some consistency: keeping East Haven between 17 and 18 points across their sets. The final score came out to 25-17, 25-17, 25-18.
Julianne Henkel was her usual excellent self, getting 18 digs, three kills, two aces, and two aces. Stella Andresen was another key player, getting eight aces and five kills.
Foran's win bumped their record up to 9-1. As for Branford, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-5 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Foran has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 11 aces per game. However, it's not like Branford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 13.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Foran's way against Branford when the teams last played on September 5th, as Foran made off with a 3-0 victory. Will Foran repeat their success, or does Branford have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
