Volleyball Game Preview: Rib Lake Redmen vs. Prentice Buccaneers

Rib Lake is 2-8 against Prentice since September of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Redmen will square off against the Buccaneers. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.

Rib Lake is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They put the hurt on Winter with a sharp 3-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Redmen.

Rib Lake had a senior duo take command as Tahlia Scheithauer had 17 digs and Avery Niemi had seven digs and two aces. Scheithauer is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 12 or more in each of the last eight games she's played.

Meanwhile, Prentice got the win against Mellen on Saturday by a conclusive 3-0. The victory continues a trend for the Buccaneers in their matchups with the Granite Diggers: they've now won seven in a row.

Rib Lake better focus on containing Sofie Staroba and Piper Heikkinen as the pair were huge in Prentice's win. Staroba had 21 assists and six digs, while Heikkinen had 13 digs and three assists.

Prentice's win bumped their record up to 22-11. As for Rib Lake, their victory bumped their record up to 29-8.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Rib Lake has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 5.6 aces per game. However, it's not like Prentice struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Everything went Rib Lake's way against Prentice in their previous meeting back in September, as Rib Lake made off with a 3-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Redmen since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.