The St. Charles Pirates will head out to challenge the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
St. Charles took a three-set loss the last time they faced off against Winfield, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Pirates won by a set and slipped past the Warriors 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Pirates have posted against the Warriors since October 22, 2022.
St. Charles wouldn't go down easily and took Winfield into a fifth set where they got it done with a two-point win. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 16-14.
Fort Zumwalt West extended their winning streak to 16 games thanks to a huge performance from Audrey Lashbrook. The Jaguars came out on top against Howell by a score of 3-1 on Tuesday for which the team can thank Lashbrook, who had 32 digs and three aces. She has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more digs the last 11 times she's played.
Fort Zumwalt West was especially dominant in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-19, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23.
St. Charles better focus on containing Charley Wall and Carly Wolff as the pair were huge in Fort Zumwalt West's win. Wall had five aces, while Wolff had 15 assists and 14 digs. Those five aces gave Wall a new career-high. Katelyn Deverman also deserves some recognition as she had her first kill of the season.
St. Charles' record now sits at 7-11-3. As for Fort Zumwalt West, their record is now 17-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Monday's contest: St. Charles has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Fort Zumwalt West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Charles suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Fort Zumwalt West in their previous matchup back in October of 2024. Can the Pirates avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
