The Clinton Dark Horses are taking a road trip to square off against the Pender Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Pender took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Clinton, who comes in off a win.
Clinton took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Southwest Onslow 3-0.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Clinton took every set by at least ten points. The final score came out to 25-7, 25-15, 25-12.
Cameron Marshburn
| 09/25/25 vs Southwest Onslow | 22 |
| 09/23/25 @ Heide Trask | 23 |
| 09/18/25 @ East Duplin | 15 |
| 09/16/25 @ South Lenoir | 32 |
| 09/11/25 vs Pender | 12 |
| + 6 more games |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Clinton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Cameron Marshburn, who had 22 digs. Marshburn is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 12 or more in each of the last 11 games she's played. Nellie Bass was another key player, getting 13 kills, three digs, and two aces.
Meanwhile, Pender was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They came up short against Heide Trask, falling 3-0.
While Pender was kept off the board, it wasn't for a lack of trying: they cut into Heide Trask's winning margin in every set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-13, 25-16, 25-23.
Clinton will need to focus on slowing down Jensen Bordeaux, one of several Pender players who made an impact when they last played. She had 14 digs and five kills. The team also got some help courtesy of Charleigh Rivenbark, who had nine digs and five kills.
Pender's loss dropped their record down to 4-12. As for Clinton, they pushed their record up to 9-6 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: Clinton has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 10.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Pender struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Clinton's way against Pender when the teams last played on September 11th, as Clinton made off with a 3-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dark Horses since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
