The Opening Drive: Week 8

Welcome to “The Opening Drive!”  Here we take a look at the sports stories making news in the Grant County area this week…let’s get started.

The Madison-Grant Argyles Volleyball team gave the Wapahani Raiders all they could handle on Tuesday but came up short losing in 4 matches.  The win gave the Raiders a spot in tomorrow’s semi-state match in Bremen. Madison-Grant lost the first two matches by scores of 25-23 and 25-13 but won the third game of the match by the score of 25-17.  The Class 2A #2 Raiders were too much for the Argyles in the fourth and clinching game winning by a score of 25-14.  The loss snapped the Argyles 24-match winning streak as well.  Madison-Grant finished the year with an impressive 32-and-4 record and ranked #7 in the Class 2A IHSAA Volleyball polls. 

In college soccer, the Mid-Central College Conference tournament will get underway this weekend on both the men and women’s side.  The Indiana Wesleyan Men and Women’s team made the tournament as the #6 seed in each field.  The I-W-U men will play at Spring Arbor in their quarterfinal match at 7 pm Saturday.  The women will be playing at Mount Vernon on 2 pm Saturday.  As for the Taylor Trojans, the men and women’s team also made the 8-team tournament.  On the women’s side, the 7^th-seeded Trojans will play at Grace College at 1 pm Saturday.  Meanwhile, the Taylor Men’s team is the #1 seed for the tournament and will host the Mount Vernon at 1 pm on Saturday.  The men’s team is looking to win its first MCC Postseason Tournament since 1997.

While the NBA may not be making much progress toward the regular season, college basketball is about to be in full swing and some local teams have high expectations this year.  On the men’s side, the I-W-U Wildcats claimed the #2 spot in the preseason N-A-I-A Division II basketball preseason poll.   The Wildcats are coming off a 28-8 record last year and a trip to the N-A-I-A Division II National Quarterfinals.  The Taylor Trojans on the men’s side did receive votes but did not make the top 25.  On the women’s side, the I-W-U Women claimed the #3 spot in the preseason poll.  The Taylor Trojan women also received votes but didn’t make the top 25.  The regular season for all 4 of the local teams start next week.

That concludes our Opening Drive Segment.  Remember to listen for the Fortress Sports Update each week where we keep you in the know of all the local sporting events in the area.