ALA - West Foothills hasn't had much luck against Northwest Christian recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Guardians will square off against the Crusaders at 5:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as ALA - West Foothills comes in on 12 and Northwest Christian on seven.
On Tuesday, ALA - West Foothills made easy work of Kingman and carried off a 3-0 win.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: ALA - West Foothills took every set by at least 11 points. The match finished with set scores of 25-8, 25-7, 25-14.
Meanwhile, Northwest Christian got the win against Parker on Tuesday by a conclusive 3-0.
Northwest Christian never let Parker on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-14, 25-22, 25-11.
Northwest Christian's win came from a few key players ALA - West Foothills will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Trace Martin, who had 20 assists and 11 digs. That's the most digs he has posted over his last eight contests. Another player making a difference was Brooks Martin, who had 11 digs and five aces.
Northwest Christian 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 11 consecutive matchups.
ALA - West Foothills' victory was their tenth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 28-4. As for Northwest Christian, their record is now 21-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: ALA - West Foothills has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Northwest Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
ALA - West Foothills suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Northwest Christian in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Guardians avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
