After both having extra time off, the Waynedale Golden Bears and the Dalton Bulldogs will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Waynedale is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They skirted past Hillsdale 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Golden Bears have posted since September 11th.
Waynedale wouldn't go down easily and took Hillsdale into a fifth set where they got it done with a two-point win. The match finished with set scores of 25-12, 27-25, 18-25, 17-25, 16-14.
If Newton Falls wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Dalton, they should've done a better job of containing Chloe Ruehling. The Bulldogs put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 3-0 win on Wednesday with plenty of help from Ruehling, who had 15 digs and one assist. She has been hot, having posted 12 or more digs the last seven times she's played.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Dalton took every set by at least ten points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 25-6, 25-8.
Waynedale's record is now 17-8. As for Dalton, their record now sits at 22-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Waynedale hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 5.9 blocks per game. It's a different story for Dalton, though, as they've been averaging only 1.2 blocks. Given Waynedale's sizable advantage in that area, the Bulldogs will need to find a way to close that gap.
Waynedale couldn't quite get it done against Dalton in their previous meeting back in September as they fell 3-1. Can the Golden Bears avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
