Lynchburg-Clay is 1-9 against Fairfield since September of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 7:45 p.m. Lynchburg-Clay is coming into the contest hot, having won their last nine games.
Lynchburg-Clay picked up another tournament win on Tuesday. They blew past Belpre 3-0.
Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Lynchburg-Clay took every set by at least 12 points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-13, 25-8.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Fairfield challenged Paint Valley on Tuesday. The Lions narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Bearcats 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Lions have posted since August 19th.
Fairfield had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first two sets, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 15-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-8.
Lynchburg-Clay better focus on containing Ally Maynard and Alyssa Bales as the pair were huge in Fairfield's win. Maynard had 15 digs and two aces, while Bales had 16 digs and three aces. Bales has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more digs the last nine times she's played.
Fairfield was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 18 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces every time they've taken the court this season.
Lynchburg-Clay's win bumped their record up to 18-5. As for Fairfield, their victory bumped their record up to 16-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's match: Lynchburg-Clay has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 12.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Fairfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 12.9 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lynchburg-Clay skirted past Fairfield 3-2 in their previous meeting back in September. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Bales, who had 28 digs and three aces. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Mustangs still be able to contain Bales? There's only one way to find out.
