The St. Joseph Academy Jaguars will head out to face off against the Magnificat Blue Streaks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. St. Joseph Academy is looking to tack on another W to their nine-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
St. Joseph Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Ohio's top teams: Archbishop Hoban, who was ranked second in their home state at the time (St. Joseph Academy was ranked seventh). St. Joseph Academy fell just short of Archbishop Hoban by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday. The Jaguars' loss signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.
St. Joseph Academy started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 16-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-10.
Despite the defeat, St. Joseph Academy had strong showings from Jazlene "Jazzy" Ocasio, who had seven digs and two aces, and Anne Culkar, who had 16 kills, 13 digs, and 13 digs. Culkar is also on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served two or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Magnificat lost 3-0 to Gilmour Academy on Tuesday.
While Magnificat was not able to make it on the board, they still kept things close, especially in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 26-24, 25-16.
Magnificat's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Kailey Snow, who had ten digs and two aces, and Lindsey Murphy, who had ten digs.
St. Joseph Academy's record now sits at 10-6. As for Magnificat, their record now sits at 12-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: St. Joseph Academy has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 7.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Magnificat struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Joseph Academy beat Magnificat 3-1 when the teams last played back in September of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Joseph Academy 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
