The Independence/Gilmanton Indees will face off against the Osseo-Fairchild Thunder at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Independence/Gilmanton will be strutting in after a win while Osseo-Fairchild will be coming in after a loss.
While Independence/Gilmanton's victory against Alma Center Lincoln wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Indees skirted past the Hornets 3-2. The win continues a trend for the Indees in their matchups with the Hornets: they've now won four in a row.
Independence/Gilmanton was actually outscored in aggregate across those five sets (103-100), but they still managed to win. The final score came out to 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 11-25, 15-9.
Independence/Gilmanton's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Danika Ekern led the charge by getting 19 digs and two aces. Yuritza Bautista was another key player, getting 15 digs.
They weren't the only good servers: Independence/Gilmanton was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 16 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Osseo-Fairchild was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They came up short against Melrose-Mindoro, falling 3-0.
While Osseo-Fairchild was not able to make it on the board, they still kept things close, especially in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-20, 25-17, 25-22.
Osseo-Fairchild's loss dropped their record down to 2-12. As for Independence/Gilmanton, their victory bumped their record up to 4-9.
Everything went Independence/Gilmanton's way against Osseo-Fairchild when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as Independence/Gilmanton made off with a 3-0 win. Do the Indees have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Thunder turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
