August 31, 2012 - Few teams in the nation faced a season-opening slate as tough as the one put in front of the Hillsdale College volleyball team.
The Chargers spent Labor Day Weekend at the tournament hosted by five-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.
Match 4 Box Score
September 1, 2012 - A rough four-match stretch at the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament ended with a loss Saturday afternoon for the Hillsdale College volleyball team.
The Chargers dropped a 3-0 decision to the host Golden Bears in the fourth match of the tournament. Concordia-St. Paul, the five-time defending NCAA Division II national champions, won the sets by scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 25-18.
The young Chargers got a lesson in volleyball excellence from the Golden Bears, who lost just two players off last year's title-winning team. Hillsdale played very well at times, and forced the champs to work for most of their points throughout the match, but were overwhelmed by the Bears' precision, experience and court coverage.
Junior Bekah Draves played her best match of the weekend in Saturday's finale, finishing with six kills, two digs and a block assist. Senior Lauren Grover and freshman Emily Wolfert each tallied three block assists, and junior Caitlin Kopmeyer led Hillsdale with eight kills and 10 digs.
Match 3 Box Score
September 1, 2012 - The Chargers lost for the third time in three outings in Saturday's early match, 3-1 to Regis University at Concordia-St.Paul.
The Rangers mounted late-set comebacks in each of the first two sets to win 25-20 and 25-18. The Chargers stormed back to take set three 25-19, and were up 24-23 in the fourth set only to see the Rangers come back to win 27-25.
Senior Lauren Grover led Hillsdale's offense with 13 kills, just two off her career high, set last year against Findlay. She also had four block assists.
Some of the promise of this year's freshman class was revealed in this match in a positive way, despite the loss. Freshman Emily Wolfert had a season-high seven kills and contribute six digs on the defensive side of the ball. After not starting the first set, freshman Haylee Booms came in with six kills in the final three sets of the match and made a quick impact after she got onto the court.
Freshman Jenalle Beaman stood out with a career-high 13 digs, leading the team along with sophomore Bailey Lindner. The 13 digs were also Lindner's career-best.
Junior Sydney Lenhart set career-highs in kills (3) and assists (21) while also producing 10 digs in the match. Sophomore Alexis Waugh added 12 assists for the Chargers.
Match 2 Box Score
In Friday's second match, the Chargers again failed to win a set from a nationally ranked opponent.
The BYU-Hawaii Seasiders, ranked 20th in the nation, defeated Hillsdale 3-0, with set scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-19. The Seasiders made late scoring runs in the first and third sets to break open what had been a tie game well into each team scoring in the teens.
The Seasiders ended the first set on a 10-1 run, and the third set was tied 14-14 before the team finished the win with an 11-5 spurt.
Serving was also a big advantage for BYU-Hawaii in the match, thanks to its nine service aces coupled with six service errors committed by the Chargers.
Junior Caitlin Kopmeyer led the Chargers with seven kills, to go along with nine digs and three assists. Senior Lauren Grover had six kills, while sophomore Kat Carpenter had a career-high four kills.
Freshman libero Marissa Owen led Hillsdale with 11 digs, while junior Sydney Lenhart dished out 15 assists.
Match 1 Box Score
In Friday's opener, the Chargers lost to the first of three nationally ranked teams they will face, No. 6 Southwest Minnesota Sttate 3-0.
The Mustangs won the sets by scores of 25-23, 25-18 and 25-21.
Starting three freshmen, Hillsdale got off to a strong start in the first set, holding a 20-18 lead at one point. But SMSU rallied to edge the Chargers in the first set, and continued that momentum over into set two, the most decisive of the three.
Hillsdale fought off three match points in the third set before falling 25-21.
The Chargers have traditionally been one of Division II's best blocking teams, and despite a new lineup, they maintained that in this match with 11 total team blocks against a team with three returning All-Americans. Senior Lauren Grover had six block assists and one solo block to lead the way for the front-row players.
In her collegiate debut, freshman Emily Wolfert had two solo blocks and two block assists for Hillsdale. Sophomore Kat Carpenter and freshman Haylee Booms each added two block assists for the team in the match.
Juniors Bekah Draves and Caitlin Kopmeyer each had nine kills to pace the offense for Hillsdale. The Chargers ran what's known as a "6-2" offense, which features two players rotating at the setter position. Junior Sydney Lenhart, one of the setters, had nine digs and 15 assists while sophomore Alexis Waugh added a career-high 14 assists.
Freshman Marissa Owen started the match at libero in her collegiate debut, and led the Chargers with 15 digs while providing excellent passing and court coverage.