Oshkosh West is 2-8 against Hortonville since September of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Wildcats will welcome the Polar Bears at 7:00 p.m.
Oshkosh West is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Wisconsin's top teams: Kimberly, who was ranked 16th at the time (Oshkosh West was ranked 18th). The Wildcats fell just short of the Papermakers by a score of 3-2 on Thursday.
Oshkosh West took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. The match finished with set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 15-9.
The losing side was boosted by Olivia Xiong, who had nine digs and two assists. Kayana Turner also deserves some recognition as she had her first block of the season.
Meanwhile, Hortonville made easy work of Appleton West on Thursday and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Polar Bears.
Hortonville was especially dominant in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-20, 25-21, 25-12.
Hortonville's win came from a few key players Oshkosh West will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Aubrey Tank, who had three digs and three aces. Those three aces gave her a new career-high.
Hortonville was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 14 aces. They are 6-1 when they serve at least ten aces.
Hortonville's win bumped their record up to 15-12. As for Oshkosh West, their defeat dropped their record down to 20-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Oshkosh West has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Hortonville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Oshkosh West's way against Hortonville in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, as Oshkosh West made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Polar Bears turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
