The Heath Bulldogs will face off against the London Red Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Heath sitting on four straight wins and London on three.
Heath barely beat Fredericktown the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Bulldogs put the hurt on the Freddies with a sharp 3-0 victory on Tuesday.
Heath was especially dominant in the first set. The final score came out to 25-14, 25-20, 25-18.
Heath can attribute much of their success to Adrianne Pethtel, who had 13 digs and two aces, and Anna Mathias, who had 12 digs. That's the most aces Pethtel has posted over her last six matchups.
Bishop Ready typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday London proved too difficult a challenge. They walked away with a 3-1 win over the Silver Knights.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-16, 15-25, 25-21, 25-18.
London's win came from a few key players Heath will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Madi Green, who had three digs and three aces. She has been hot, having also posted 12 or more assists the last eight times she's played. Riley Cremeens was another key player, getting 16 digs and one assist.
They weren't the only good servers: London was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in 12 consecutive matches.
Heath's victory bumped their record up to 13-10. As for London, their win bumped their record up to 14-9.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Heath has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.1 aces per game. However, it's not like London struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.3 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Heath couldn't quite get it done against London in their previous matchup back in October of 2021 as they fell 3-1. Can the Bulldogs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
