The Merrillville Pirates will challenge the Westville Blackhawks at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with seven consecutive losses for Merrillville and three for Westville.
On Thursday, Merrillville didn't have quite enough to beat Michigan City and fell 3-2.
Merrillville took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-15, 17-25, 19-25, 25-14, 15-9.
Despite their defeat, Merrillville saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Louis Roy, who had ten digs and two aces, was perhaps the best of all.
Meanwhile, Westville didn't have quite enough to beat Warsaw on Thursday and fell 3-2. While the Blackhawks didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Tigers 25-17 in the first set.
Westville wouldn't go down easily and took Warsaw into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss. The final score came out to 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13.
Merrillville will have to contain Mark Wert as he made an impact in Westville's last game. He had 26 digs and one assist. Wert is on a roll when it comes to digs, as he's now had ten or more in each of the last three games he's played.
Westville's loss dropped their record down to 5-14. As for Merrillville, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-10.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's match: Merrillville has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7 aces per game. However, it's not like Westville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Merrillville couldn't quite get it done against Westville when the teams last played last Wednesday as they fell 3-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wert, who had 18 digs and two aces. Now that the Pirates know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
