Volleyball Game Preview: Illini Central Cougars vs. Hartsburg-Emden Stags

By Team Reports Sep 29, 2025, 7:30am

Volleyball Preview: Illini Central Cougars vs. Hartsburg-Emden Stags

Illini Central hasn't had much luck against Hartsburg-Emden recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Cougars will host the Stags at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with 14 defeats in a row, Illini Central turned things around against Cornerstone Christian on Saturday. They walked away with a 2-0 win over the Cyclones.

Morgan Peterson

Digs

09/27/25 vs Cornerstone Christian23
09/27/25 vs Mt. Olive29
09/27/25 @ Calvary11
09/25/25 vs New Berlin29
09/23/25 vs Olympia20

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Illini Central to victory, but perhaps none more so than Morgan Peterson, who had 23 digs. Peterson is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 11 or more in each of the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Elayna Snyder, who had eight digs, three aces, and one block.

Meanwhile, it was close, but on Thursday Hartsburg-Emden sidestepped Tremont for a 2-1 victory. The win continues a trend for the Stags in their matchups with the Turks: they've now won three in a row.

It was an exciting match in which no team won back-to-back sets, but at the end of the day Hartsburg-Emden got the one that really mattered. The final score came out to 25-19, 27-29, 25-12.

Illini Central better focus on containing Celia Cross and Ava Eeten as the pair were huge in Hartsburg-Emden's win. Cross hit 76.9% for ten kills and four blocks and three digs, while Eeten had seven digs. Those seven digs gave Eeten a new career-high.

Illini Central's victory bumped their record up to 3-15. As for Hartsburg-Emden, their win bumped their record up to 15-3.

Illini Central couldn't quite get it done against Hartsburg-Emden when the teams last played back in September of 2024 as they fell 2-0. Will the Cougars have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps

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