The Bay Rockets will face off against the Padua Franciscan Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Bay sitting on four straight wins and Padua Franciscan on three.
Bay is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Lake 3-0.
The victory didn't come easy: Lake scored at least 16 points in every set. The final score came out to 25-11, 25-14, 25-16.
Bella Buttari was the offensive standout of the game as she had nine digs and three aces. She 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.
Bay was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 16 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 16 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Padua Franciscan got the win against St. Vincent-St. Mary on Tuesday by a conclusive 3-0.
The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Padua Franciscan was: they took every set by at least 12 points. The match finished with set scores of 25-11, 25-13, 25-12.
Padua Franciscan can attribute much of their success to Giulia Reginelli, who had 11 digs and three aces, and Madelyn Kocmit, who had six digs, three kills, and two aces.
Bay pushed their record up to 21-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home. As for Padua Franciscan, they have been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-12 record this season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Bay hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 5.1 blocks per game. It's a different story for Padua Franciscan, though, as they've been averaging only 0.6. Given Bay's sizable advantage in that area, Padua Franciscan will need to find a way to close that gap.
Bay came up short against Padua Franciscan when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 3-1. Can Bay avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
