Marriotts Ridge hasn't had much luck against Howard recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. Marriotts Ridge will look to defend their home court against the Howard Lions at 6:00 p.m.
Marriotts Ridge lost 3-0 to Centennial on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat Marriotts Ridge has suffered against Centennial since September 27, 2017.
Marriotts Ridge was not held off the scoreboard, but that almost wasn't the case: they kept the second set very close. The match finished with set scores of 25-21, 25-23, 25-15.
Meanwhile, Howard put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They walked away with a 3-1 win over Long Reach.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-9, 25-18, 17-25, 25-14.
Howard relied on the efforts of Riley Poholsky, who had 14 digs, and Miranda Ball, who had 12 digs and two aces. Ball is on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served two or more in the last four games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Anna Wohnsigl, who had seven digs.
Howard was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 12 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least 11 aces in four consecutive matches.
This is the second loss in a row for Marriotts Ridge and nudges their season record down to 2-4. As for Howard, they pushed their record up to 9-0 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Marriotts Ridge has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 6.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Howard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Marriotts Ridge might still be hurting after the 3-0 loss they got from Howard when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Marriotts Ridge 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
