In the third set of Saturday's volleyball match between #18 Hillsdale College and Ohio Valley University, four freshmen were on the court for the Chargers, players who had not been part of the team's home and conference winning streaks coming into this season.
They helped those streaks continue.
The Chargers held off an improved Fighting Scots squad 3-0 at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena to improve to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The set scores were 25-12, 25-22 and 25-22.
In that third set, freshmen Madeline Zenas, Audrey Riley and Megan Kolp got the bulk of the playing time at setter, outside hitter/defensive specialist and middle hitter, respectively, and they all showed promise.
Zenas contributed in every way, showing power and range at the net. She finished with 3 kills, 10 assists and 2 digs, winning a couple of jousts at the net and displaying nice ball control from her setter position. Zenas dished out 20 assists in her two sets of action this weekend.
Riley contributed 2 of Hillsdale's 11 service aces in the match, and had a pair of kills while showing her normal good range on defensive serve receive.
Kolp had 3 kills and 2 blocks in her limited action for the Chargers.
Hillsdale displayed a nasty serve with 6 aces in the opening set en route to a 25-12 win. The Fighting Scots played hard and showed some strength on offense in playing Hillsdale close in the final two sets, which the Chargers won by three points apiece.
Sophomore Karoline Shelton led the team's offense with 13 kills while picking up 11 digs, notching another double-double. Senior Emily Lachmann was a reliable offensive weapon for Hillsdale with 8 kills while senior Hannah Gates added 6 kills and 5 total blocks with a .455 hitting percentage.
Senior libero Taylor Wiese led the way with 15 digs, and junior setter Lindsey Mertz had 25 assists, 3 aces and 4 digs in her two sets of action.
PHOTO: Victoria Addis