Thanks to Canton's impressive four-game victory over Livonia Franklin Tuesday night, the stage is now set for one of the most-anticipated volleyball matches of the fall.

  On Thursday, the Chiefs (3-0 in the KLAA South Division) will host Livonia Churchill, which will also carry an unbeaten division mark into the showdown.

  The Chiefs are now 13-3-1 overall after rallying to beat the hustling Patriots, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23.

  "We feel like we don't have to start playing until the second game after we lose the first game," said Canton coach Mary Kryska. "This has been a consistent pattern in the last two weeks. After we decided to play, our serve-receive looked good and we started to make less errors.

  "Our defense struggled in the first game, but we adjusted well and allowed them less kills the rest of the match. We stayed aggressive at the net and ran several plays."

  Junior Alaina Turner was outstanding for the winners, netting 15 kills (with no hitting errors) and four blocks.

  "We can count on Alaina to kill the ball and mix it up a lot to keep the other team's defense guessing," said Kryska.

  Kristen Muir had her usual solid night, registering 11 kills and 11 digs.

  "Kristen had no receive errors, which is huge for our team," noted Kryska.

  Also making solid contributions were setters Jackie Waite (20 assists, nine digs) and Lauren Martin (16 assists); Tori den Boer (three blocks); Maggie Deloy (six kills); Erica den Boer (six kills, 15 digs); Alex Bryden (12 digs) and Laura Fcasni (10 digs).

  Thursday's huge match-up is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.