Birthday parties and block parties are a lot of fun. So the Hillsdale College volleyball team decided to blend the two concepts together Saturday evening.
Junior middle hitter Lindsay Kostrzewa celebrated her birthday Saturday, and did it to the tune of 10 block assists, which played a big role in the Chargers' 3-1 win over Michigan Tech University at Jesse Philips Arena.
Hillsdale is now 15-12 overall and 10-6 in the GLIAC, while the Huskies fell to 9-19 overall and 5-11 in conference play. The Chargers close out the regular season next weekend at home, facing Ferris State Friday night and Grand Valley State Saturday.
Kostrzewa was inserted into the match after Hillsdale lost a frustrating 25-22 decision in the first set to a Michigan Tech team that was playing terrific coverage defense. The set was tied 22-22, but MTU scored the final three points to take the edge in the match.
Hillsdale responded with a vengance, winning set 2 25-11, then winning the match with victories by scores of 25-17 and 25-20. The win snapped a rare three-match home losing streak for Hillsdale.
In addition to her stout blocking, Kostrzewa was also effective on offense, generating eight kills with a .412 hitting percentage. In all, five different players had seven or more kills for Hillsdale, which was all the more impressive when you consider the team's 16 total blocks in the match.
Sophomore Emily Wolfert was active all over the court in this match, and led the team with 14 kills to go with a .306 hitting percentage. She had eight digs and was in on seven blocks, a season-high.
Sophomore Jenalle Beaman match Kostrzewa's eight kills, while junior Kat Vael and sophomore Haylee Booms each contributed seven kills to the offense.
Senior Caitlin Kopmeyer was switched to libero before the second set and responded with a team-high 21 digs. Beaman had 11 digs and senior Sydney Lenhart picked up 10 digs.
Junior setter Alexis Waugh also played a strong match with 26 assists, two service aces and eight digs. Sophomore Marissa Owen added 17 assists for Hillsdale's winning effort.