The Marquette Mustangs will take on the St. Joseph's Academy Angels at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Marquette will be strutting in after a win while St. Joseph's Academy will be coming in after a loss.
On Wednesday, Marquette got the win against Kirkwood by a conclusive 3-0. The victory continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Pioneers: they've now won four in a row.
Marquette never let Kirkwood on the board, but things got pretty close in the third set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-18, 25-14, 25-23.
Marquette found their leader in freshman Camille Plunkett, who had seven digs and two aces.
Marquette was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 11 aces. That's the most aces they've posted in their last six matchups.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph's Academy faced Cor Jesu Academy in a battle between two of the state's top teams last Wednesday. The Angels took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Chargers. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last six times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
The match finished with set scores of 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16.
Despite the defeat, St. Joseph's Academy saw an underclassman step up: freshman Frankie Vonderahe had 16 digs and two assists. Vonderahe is crushing it when it comes to digs: she's had at least 11 every time she's taken the court this season.
Marquette's win bumped their record up to 18-16. As for St. Joseph's Academy, their loss ended a four-match streak of away wins and brought them to 19-10-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's match: Marquette has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.1 aces per game. However, it's not like St. Joseph's Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more volleyball content.
