After both having extra time off, the Jackson Hole Broncs and the Riverton Wolverines will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that both suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Jackson Hole is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Wyoming's top teams: Star Valley, who was ranked 16th in their home state at the time (Jackson Hole was ranked 25th). Jackson Hole fell just short of Star Valley by a score of 3-2 on Friday. The Broncs haven't had much luck with the Braves recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Jackson Hole actually scored more points across those five sets (100-99), but sadly they still had to settle for second. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 10-25, 25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 15-8.
Jackson Hole's loss came about despite a quality game from Denisse Moreno, who had 17 digs.
Even though they lost, Jackson Hole was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 17 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least seven aces in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Riverton was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell just short of Evanston by a score of 3-2. While the Wolverines didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Devils 27-25 in the first set.
Riverton took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. The match finished with set scores of 25-27, 25-9, 18-25, 25-20, 15-9.
Jackson Hole now has a losing record at 12-13-1. As for Riverton, their loss dropped their record down to 13-13.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Jackson Hole has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Riverton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Jackson Hole beat Riverton 3-1 when the teams last played back in September. The rematch might be a little tougher for Jackson Hole since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
