vs
| 10/01/24 - Away | 3-0 W |
| 09/26/23 - Home | 3-0 W |
| 09/27/22 - Away | 3-0 W |
| 09/28/21 - Home | 3-0 W |
| 08/28/21 - Neutral | 2-0 W |
| + 5 more games |
Lincoln has gone 8-2 against Mitchell recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Patriots will welcome the Kernels at 6:30 p.m.
Lincoln is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Dakota's top teams: Harrisburg, who was ranked first at the time (Lincoln was ranked 16th). The Patriots lost 3-0 to the Tigers on Thursday. The Patriots' defeat signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
The match finished with set scores of 25-10, 25-15, 25-14.
Despite the loss, Lincoln had strong showings from Julia Blom, who had eight digs and two assists, and Hayden Kok, who had five digs.
While Mitchell didn't have the best season last year (they finished 3-20), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Brookings 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Kernels.
Mitchell took Brookings into a fifth set where they got it done with a eight-point win. The final score came out to 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 15-7.
Lincoln better focus on containing Cassidy Korzan and Londyn Hajek as the pair were huge in Mitchell's win. Korzan had 19 digs and three aces, while Hajek had 12 digs and four assists. Those 12 digs gave Hajek a new career-high.
Lincoln's defeat dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Mitchell, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's contest: Lincoln has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Mitchell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lincoln took their victory against Mitchell when the teams last played back in October of 2024 by a conclusive 3-0 score. Do the Patriots have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Kernels turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
