After both having extra time off, the Wellington Dukes and the Smithville Smithies will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Wellington is coming into the match hot, having won their last seven games.
On Thursday, Wellington was able to grind out a solid win over Keystone, taking the game 3-1.
Wellington was dominant in they sets they won, taking each by at least ten points. The final score came out to 18-25, 25-12, 25-12, 25-15.
Meanwhile, Smithville had just enough and edged out Waynedale 3-2 on Thursday. The Smithies haven't had any issues with the Golden Bears recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
If you add up the scores from across all five sets (106-105) Smithville actually scored fewer points, but in the end it didn't matter. The match finished with set scores of 25-19, 17-25, 21-25, 25-22, 17-15.
Wellington's win bumped their record up to 15-6. As for Smithville, their victory bumped their record up to 15-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Wellington has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Smithville struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Wellington might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Smithville when the teams last played back in October of 2020. Can the Dukes avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
