Shelby had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 victory over the Highland Fighting Scots on Thursday. The win was familiar territory for the Whippets who have now won nine matches in a row.
Shelby had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The final score came out to 21-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-12, 15-13.
Madison Henkel paced Shelby's offense, picking up 20 kills. Henkel got some help from
Baylie Hoffbauer and her 43 assists. Finally, Henkel was also a dominant defender, finishing with a team-high three blocks.
When it comes to explaining why Highland lost, don't look at MaKaylee Merckling. Despite the final result, she had 33 digs, six aces, and a kill. That's the most aces Merckling has posted since back in October of 2023. Another player making a difference was Riley Walker, who had 13 digs.
Shelby is on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 16 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 23-3 record this season. As for Highland, with the defeat, they broke their four-game winning streak and moved their record to 20-6.
Shelby has already played their next contest, a 3-1 victory against Lakeview on the 2nd. Highland does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
