Volleyball Game Preview: Donovan Wildcats vs. St. Anne Cardinals

The Donovan Wildcats will face off against the St. Anne Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.

It was a proper cat-fight when Donovan took on St. Anne last Wednesday. The Wildcats narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Cardinals 2-1. The victory continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Cardinals: they've now won four in a row.

The match was a true back-and-forth as no team won consecutive sets, but in the end it was Donovan who won the one that mattered. The match finished with set scores of 25-16, 17-25, 25-12.

Layla Lou Walters

Serving Aces

10/08/25 @ St. Anne	2
10/04/25 vs Lowpoint-Washburn	1
10/02/25 @ Momence	3

Donovan can attribute much of their success to Lily Anderson, who had 14 digs and two aces, and Layla Lou Walters, who had seven digs, two aces, and one block. That's the most aces Walters has posted over her last three matches.

They weren't the only good servers: Donovan was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. They are 8-1 when they serve at least ten aces.

St. Anne dropped their record down to 9-12 with the loss, which was their third straight on the road. As for Donovan, their win bumped their record up to 12-13.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Donovan has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.5 aces per game. However, it's not like St. Anne struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other volleyball content.