The Ellsworth Eagles will venture away from home to square off against the Hampden Broncos at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Ellsworth is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Maine's top teams: Washington Academy, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Ellsworth was ranked ninth). Ellsworth came up short against Washington Academy on Thursday, falling 3-0. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Ellsworth took the loss but they managed to make steady progress, increasing their score in every set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-6, 25-11, 25-14.
Meanwhile, Hampden was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They fell 3-1 to Brewer.
Hampden came incredibly close to winning: the sets they lost were decided by three points or less. The final score came out to 25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 25-22.
Ellsworth's defeat dropped their record down to 3-2. As for Hampden, their loss dropped their record down to 3-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Wednesday's contest: Ellsworth has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 13.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Hampden struggles in that department as they've been averaging 16.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Ellsworth's way against Hampden in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as Ellsworth made off with a 3-0 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Hampden's Ava Downs, who had 27 digs and five aces. Now that she won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be easier for Ellsworth to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps