The Plainfield South Cougars will square off against the Joliet Central Steelmen at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Plainfield South will be strutting in after a victory while Joliet Central will be coming in after a defeat.
Plainfield South took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They won by a set and slipped past Neuqua Valley 2-1. The win was some much needed relief for the Cougars as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
The match was a true back-and-forth as no team won consecutive sets, but in the end it was Plainfield South who won the one that mattered. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-14, 24-26, 25-22.
Plainfield South can attribute much of their success to Savannah Stepanek, who had 19 kills. Another player making a difference was Grace Malek, who had five kills and three aces.
Joliet Central might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 2-1 to Crete-Monee, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The loss continues a trend for the Steelmen in their matchups with the Warriors: they've now lost three in a row.
Joliet Central came into the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last two. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 19-25, 25-21, 25-17.
Plainfield South's victory bumped their record up to 6-4. As for Joliet Central, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Plainfield South has serving mastered this season, having averaged 7.6 aces per game. However, it's not like Joliet Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Plainfield South was able to grind out a solid win over Joliet Central in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 2-0. Does Plainfield South have another victory up their sleeve, or will Joliet Central turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
