October 26, 2012 - The Hillsdale College volleyball team delivered its most dominating performance of the season on a night where its talented and respected leader was honored for her outstanding career.
Led by 10 total blocks from senior middle hitter Lauren Grover, the Chargers lambasted the Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals 3-0 before a huge crowd at Jesse Philips Arena Friday night. Hillsdale is back home to play Lake Superior State University at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Grover had three solo blocks and three kills while hitting .429 for the match. Hillsdale won the sets by scores of 25-19, 25-12 and 25-7. The third set was its most lopsided single-set win of the conference season, as the Chargers upped their current winning streak to 10 (14-9 overall, 10-2 GLIAC).
The first set was closely played, but the Chargers picked up their passing and defense, and finished the set on a 6-1 run to close out the Cardinals 25-19. Sophomore libero Bailey Lindner set the tone for an outstanding match with 14 digs in the opening set. She finished with 25 for the match, a career-high in three-set matches.
The momentum established by the end of set one turned into a tidal wave in the final two sets, as Hillsdale limited Saginaw Valley State to just 19 total points over the final two sets. Hillsdale's aggressive serving and blocking led to several Cardinal hitting errors. SVSU had team hitting percentages of -.062 and -.189 in the final two sets of the match.
The Charger setters distributed the ball evenly and effectively throughout the match. Sydney Lenhart had 14 assisst whiile Alexis Waugh had seven.
Freshman Emily Wolfert led the team with nine kills and a .348 hitting percentage. Junior Bekah Draves had an outstanding match with five kills and six block assists.
As a team, Hillsdale outblocked Saginaw Valley State 15-2 in the match.