After both having extra time off, the North Fork Miners and the Olathe Pirates will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that both suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Last Thursday, North Fork came up short against Gunnison and fell 3-1.
The loss didn't mean the game wasn't competitive: Gunnison scored at least 20 points in every set. The final score came out to 25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 25-20.
Even though they lost, North Fork 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 eight aces in eight consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Olathe was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell just short of Roaring Fork by a score of 3-2.
In a back-and-forth that saw neither team win consecutive sets, Olathe sadly dropped the once that decided the match. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-19, 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-8.
Despite the loss, Olathe had strong showings from Josilin Almanza, who had 20 digs, and Teresa Galvan, who had 19 digs and three kills. With that strong performance, Almanza is now averaging an impressive 10.5 digs per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Gwen Nelson, who had 13 digs.
North Fork's defeat dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Olathe, their loss dropped their record down to 4-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: North Fork has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 10.5 aces per game. However, it's not like Olathe struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Fork came out on top in a nail-biter against Olathe when the teams last played back in October of 2023, sneaking past 3-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Fork since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
