Volleyball Game Preview: Center Grove Trojans vs. Decatur Central Hawks

After both having extra time off, the Center Grove Trojans and the Decatur Central Hawks will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Decatur Central took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Center Grove, who comes in off a win.

Center Grove took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 3-1 victory over Tri-West Hendricks.

Center Grove walked away with the win (and looked especially good in the first set). The final score came out to 25-12, 24-26, 25-19, 25-21.

Skylyr Merriman

Serving Aces (Career)

10/08/25 vs Tri-West Hendricks	5
10/04/25 vs Hamilton Southeastern	3
09/15/25 vs Fishers	3
10/02/25 vs Franklin Community	2
09/12/25 @ Effingham	2

Skylyr Merriman had a dynamite game, getting ten digs and five aces. Those five aces gave her a new career-high.

Merriman wasn't the only good servers: Center Grove was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 15 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 11 consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Decatur Central lost 3-0 to Greenwood Christian Academy on Thursday. The loss continues a trend for the Hawks in their meetings with the Cougars: they've now lost six in a row.

Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-17, 25-12, 25-9.

Decatur Central's defeat dropped their record down to 5-19. As for Center Grove, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-9 record this season.