The Shullsburg Miners will head out on the road to square off against the Benton Zephyrs at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that both suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Shullsburg is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Highland just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Monday. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Cardinals. The Miners have struggled against the Cardinals recently, as their game on Monday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Shullsburg started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16.
Despite the loss, Shullsburg had strong showings from Kallie Timmerman, who had four digs and 19 assists, and Olivia Brown, who had 30 digs, six aces, and two kills. What's more, Brown also posted a 66.7% hitting percentage, which is the highestshe's posted since back in August.
Meanwhile, Benton was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their eighth straight defeat. They came up short against River Ridge, falling 3-0.
Benton was held off the scoreboard, but that almost wasn't the case: they kept the second set very close. The final score came out to 25-16, 25-22, 25-11.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Layla Groom, who had six digs, a kill, and 13 assists.
Shullsburg's loss dropped their record down to 11-11. As for Benton, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-20.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Shullsburg has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.2 aces per game. However, it's not like Benton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Shullsburg took their victory against Benton in their previous matchup back in September by a conclusive 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Shullsburg 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
