Rice Lake is 2-7 against Eau Claire Memorial since October of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 7:15 p.m. Rice Lake will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Rice Lake will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Chippewa Falls, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Rice Lake put the hurt on Chippewa Falls with a sharp 3-0 win on Thursday.
The match finished with set scores of 27-25, 25-17, 25-23.
Rice Lake can attribute much of their success to Sedona Gay, who had 14 digs, and Emily Kalina, who had 11 digs.
Meanwhile, Eau Claire Memorial entered their contest against Hudson on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Eau Claire Memorial fell 3-1 to Hudson. It was the first time this season that the Old Abes let down their fans at home.
Eau Claire Memorial started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 26-28, 25-14, 25-20, 25-16.
Natalie Pukrop put forth a good effort for the losing side as she had five digs and 13 assists. She has been hot recently, having posted 13 or more assists the last three times she's played.
Rice Lake is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. As for Eau Claire Memorial, their loss ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 17-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Rice Lake has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 6 aces per game. However, it's not like Eau Claire Memorial struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Rice Lake suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Eau Claire Memorial in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Rice Lake avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
