The Padua Franciscan Bruins will face off against the Bay Rockets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Padua Franciscan sitting on three straight wins and Bay on four.
Padua Franciscan is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 3-0 margin over St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Padua Franciscan took every set by at least 12 points. The final score came out to 25-11, 25-13, 25-12.
Padua Franciscan's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Giulia Reginelli, who had 11 digs and three aces, and Madelyn Kocmit, who had six digs, three kills, and two aces. Kocmit is also on a roll when it comes to assists, as she's now posted 13 or more in the last 12 games she's played.
Meanwhile, Bay got the win against Lake on Tuesday by a conclusive 3-0.
The victory didn't come easy: Lake scored at least 16 points in every set. The match finished with set scores of 25-11, 25-14, 25-16.
Bay can attribute much of their success to Bella Buttari, who had nine digs and three aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Bay was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 16 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 16 consecutive matchups.
Padua Franciscan is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 contests, which provided a massive bump to their 12-12 record this season. As for Bay, they pushed their record up to 21-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Padua Franciscan has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7 aces per game. However, it's not like Bay struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Padua Franciscan was able to grind out a solid victory over Bay in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 3-1. Does Padua Franciscan have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bay turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
