The Salt Fork Storm are on the road again on Thursday to play the Westville Tigers at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Monday, Salt Fork sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
The match was a true back-and-forth as no team won consecutive sets, but in the end it was Salt Fork who won the one that mattered. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 22-25, 26-24.
Salt Fork's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Addison Williams led the charge by getting 25 digs, two kills, and two aces. Williams is on a roll when it comes to digs, as she's now had 13 or more in the last three games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Rain Pitlik, who had 13 kills, 12 digs, and three aces.
Meanwhile, Westville earned a 2-0 victory over Iroquois West on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
The 2-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Westville was: they took both sets by at least 13 points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-12, 25-8.
Westville was lethal from the service line and finished the game with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least six aces in four consecutive games.
Salt Fork's win was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-4. As for Westville, their record now sits at 20-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Salt Fork has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.4 aces per game. However, it's not like Westville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Salt Fork came up short against Westville when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 2-0. Can Salt Fork 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
