The La Crosse Central Riverhawks are taking a road trip to challenge the Sparta Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. La Crosse Central will be strutting in after a win while Sparta will be coming in after a loss.
La Crosse Central not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since September 9th (when they won 3-0). They were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over La Crosse Logan. The Riverhawks haven't had any issues with the Rangers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
One reason for the win was La Crosse Central's just kept getting better, winning each set by more points than the last. The final score came out to 25-23, 25-16, 25-14.
La Crosse Central relied on the efforts of Gabriella Zeeb, who had 23 digs and two aces, and Addie Sazama-Nauman, who had four aces and three digs. That's the most aces Sazama-Nauman has posted since back in October of 2024.
Meanwhile, Sparta unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-match winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Aquinas by a score of 3-2.
Sparta took Aquinas into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 16-14.
La Crosse Central will need to focus on slowing down Addison Kent, one of several Sparta players who made an impact when they last played. She had 31 digs and one assist. Another player making a difference was Abby Berendes, who had seven digs and three aces.
La Crosse Central now has a winning record of 13-12. As for Sparta, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-11.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: La Crosse Central has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 5.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Sparta struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
La Crosse Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Sparta when the teams last played back in September, sneaking past 3-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Riverhawks since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
