The Catholic Central Hilltoppers will take on the Living Word Lutheran Timberwolves at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Catholic Central has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with three straight defeats, while Living Word Lutheran will come in with 15 straight victories.
Last Tuesday, Catholic Central came up short against Brookfield Academy and fell 3-1.
Catholic Central started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 20-25, 25-18, 25-11, 25-15.
Meanwhile, Living Word Lutheran got the win against St. Francis on Thursday by a conclusive 3-0.
Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-11, 25-13, 25-21.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Living Word Lutheran to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aria Wessel, who had 16 digs, four aces, and four aces. That's the most aces Wessel has posted since back in September of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Emree Kellerman, who had two kills, two aces, and two aces.
She wasn't the only good server: Living Word Lutheran was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least nine aces in seven consecutive contests.
Catholic Central's loss dropped their record down to 1-21. As for Living Word Lutheran, they pushed their record up to 15-1 with the win, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's match: Catholic Central has really dialed in their serving game this season, having averaged 4.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Living Word Lutheran struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Catholic Central came up short against Living Word Lutheran in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 2-0. Can Catholic Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
