The Morgan Township Cherokees will face off against the Westville Blackhawks at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Morgan Township has three straight victories, Westville has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Morgan Township made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Tri-Township, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Cherokees were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over the Tigers on Thursday.
The match finished with set scores of 25-12, 25-6, 25-17.
Morgan Township found their leader in freshman Marshall Craigin, who had seven digs and one assist. Ryland Gerber also deserves some recognition as he had his first blocks of the season.
Morgan Township was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 11 aces. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their ace total in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Westville came up short against Hebron on Thursday and fell 3-1. While the Blackhawks didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Hawks 25-14 in the first set.
Westville started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 14-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.
Morgan Township's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Westville, their loss dropped their record down to 2-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's contest: Morgan Township has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 7.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Westville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Morgan Township was able to grind out a solid victory over Westville in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 3-1. Do the Cherokees have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Blackhawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
