After both having extra time off, the Onalaska Hilltoppers and the Madison East Purgolders will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, Onalaska got the win against Sparta by a conclusive 3-0. The Hilltoppers haven't had any issues with the Spartans recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive win against them.
While Onalaska won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the second set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-23, 25-13.
Meanwhile, Madison East hadn't done well against Janesville Parker recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Purgolders came out on top in a nail-biter against the Vikings, sneaking past 3-2.
Madison East was staring down a 2-1 deficit headed into the fourth set, but they rallied to take the next two for the win. The final score came out to 25-19, 24-26, 13-25, 25-13, 15-12.
Madison East's victory bumped their record up to 8-21. As for Onalaska, their win bumped their record up to 19-9.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Onalaska has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.1 aces per game. However, it's not like Madison East struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.3 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Onalaska was able to grind out a solid victory over Madison East in their previous meeting back in September of 2022, winning 2-0. Do the Hilltoppers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Purgolders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
