2017 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament Bracket
For the 10th time in the past 14 seasons, the Hillsdale College volleyball team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament and since Thanksgiving week, the team has been preparing for its latest journey into the postseason.
Lewis University is the number one seed and host of this week's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional. The Chargers are the region's number two seed, and will face the University of Findlay at 2:30 p.m. Central Time Thursday in one of four quarterfinal matches that day. With a win, Hillsdale would advance to the regional semifinal, set for a 5:00 first serve Friday against the winner of the Rockhurst-Bellarmine match. The regional championship match will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday. All matches will be played at Lewis University.
The other quarterfinal matches will unfold as follows: #1 Lewis vs. #8 Michigan Tech, #4 #3 Rockhurst vs. #6 Bellarmine, and #4 Ferris State vs. #5 McKendree.
No team enters this regional tournament on the kind of roll Hillsdale is on. The Chargers are 28-3 on the season, are on a 21-match winning streak, and on Nov. 18, captured the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament title with a four-set win over Findlay. However, the regional quarterfinal match represents a unique challenge for Hillsdale.
This will be the third meeting between the Chargers and Oilers over a 20-day period, and fourth meeting of the season overall. An old sports saying states that it's difficult to beat the same team in a season more than once. Hillsdale will need to beat a supremely talented Oiler team for a third time if it wants to extend its season.
In the first conference match for both teams, back on Sept. 12, Findlay beat Hillsdale in a 3-2 classic in Ohio, a match that wasn't decided until the Oilers recorded a 16th point in the fifth set. The Chargers would then fall to 0-2 in the G-MAC three days later with a 3-1 home loss to Cedarville. Since that loss, Hillsdale has shown impressive physical and mental growth in winning all 21 matches its played.
None of those 21 matches have required a fifth set, as the Chargers have won 63 of their past 72 sets played in those matches. That kind of killer instinct has served the team well and could be of even more importance in postseason play.
Hillsdale's last foray into the NCAA Tournament came in 2015, when it also got matched up with Findlay in the first round. The Oilers prevailed in that meeting 3-1, a match that came 12 days after Findlay knocked Hillsdale out of the GLIAC Tournament. This year's regional matchup represents the fourth postseason match between these rivals in the last three seasons. The Chargers' previous entries into the Midwest Regional came in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Chargers won their first-ever regional match in 2006 over West Virginia State. In 2011 Hillsdale won the regional championship on its home floor with wins over Missouri S&T, Northern Kentucky and Indianapolis. In 2012, the team made it to the regional final after wins over Grand Valley State and Ashland.