Volleyball Game Preview: Valparaiso Vikings vs. Chesterton Trojans

After both having extra time off, the Valparaiso Vikings and the Chesterton Trojans will shake off the rust and duke it out at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Thursday, Valparaiso earned a 3-1 win over Portage. The Vikings haven't had any issues with the Indians recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.

Valparaiso had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The final score came out to 20-25, 25-15, 25-11, 25-17.

Meanwhile, Chesterton got the win against Merrillville on Thursday by a conclusive 3-0.

Chesterton's got stronger as the match went on, holding Merrillville to fewer and fewer points set over set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-16, 25-15, 25-14.

Chesterton's win bumped their record up to 28-3. As for Valparaiso, their victory bumped their record up to 17-14.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's contest: Valparaiso has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8 aces per game. However, it's not like Chesterton struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Valparaiso suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Chesterton when the teams last played back in September. Can the Vikings avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.