This weekend's South Suburban Tournament serves as a litmus test for the 6-0 women's volleyball team at Morton College. It's been something coach Steve Dowjotas has been building toward in his five seasons at Morton College, though, as the Panthers are off to their best start in program history.

The two big matches on the four-game card for the Panthers are No. 21 Milwaukee Area Tech (10-0) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, September 6th and Lake County (5-0) at 9 a.m. Sunday, September 7th. The Panthers take aim at their first win over a ranked team since 2022 in MATC, while Lake County offers a challenge for Skyway supremacy.

Morton College also faces Spoon River and the tournament hosts.

Dealing aces
Morton College rang up 19 aces in its 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) Skyway win over Elgin September 3rd. It was the fifth time the Panthers hit double figures for service aces this season. This also was a season-high and most in a match since dropping 22 aces on Wright last season.

Diana Stetsko led the way with six aces. She served up three straight aces in game one. Marija Radovic added four aces and Sophia Swiderski, three. Valencia Carrera, Ella Rubino and Ryanne Janicek all had two aces.

Hitting leaders
Ava Miller (3 kills, .429 hitting percentage), Swiderski (5 kills, .333 hitting percentage), Janicek (1 kill, .333 hitting percentage), Nina Jasiecka (9 kills, .292 hitting percentage) and Stetsko (6 kills, .235 hitting percentage) were Morton College's offensive leaders. Beatriz Coca (3 kills) and Jasiecka both had two solo blocks and one assist block. Neda Stojanovic (3 kills) added a solo block and a block assist. Journee Fulton had 2 kills.

Two's better than one
Morton College's two-setter attack of Radovic and Janicek continues to work as both were in double figures for assists vs. Elgin with 14 and 11, respectively. They've combined for 188 assists and there's only been one match this season when they both weren't in double figures in assists.

Digging it
Swiderski led the Panthers with 9 digs, while Abby Monahan and Radovic had 5 apiece. Carrera added 4 digs and Janicek, 3.