Volleyball Game Preview: Center Grove Trojans vs. Southport Cardinals

The Center Grove Trojans will take on the Southport Cardinals at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Center Grove is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. Everything went their way against Decatur Central as they made off with a 3-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Trojans.

Southport won the last time they faced Terre Haute North Vigo and Lily Boone did her part to make sure it happened again. The Cardinals walked away with a 3-1 victory over the Patriots on Saturday for which the team can thank Boone, who had 33 digs and two aces. She has been hot for a while, having posted 11 or more digs the last 17 times she's played.

Southport had a slow start but a hot finish: after dropping the first set, they turned around to win the next three. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-18.

Center Grove's record now sits at 24-9. As for Southport, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-4 and their overall record up to 15-13.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Center Grove has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.3 aces per game. However, it's not like Southport struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.4 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Everything went Center Grove's way against Southport in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as Center Grove made off with a 3-0 victory. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cardinals turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.