A frustrating season for the Hillsdale College volleyball team was summed up in the margin and manner in which it lost three sets to a strong Ferris State team Friday night.
The Chargers won the first and fourth sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-20, playing well in all phases of the game. The Bulldogs won sets 2, 3 and 5 by two points each, the slimmest margin possible in the sport of volleyba,,, 25-23, 26-24 and 16-14 to win the match 3-2.
Hillsdale is now 15-13 overall and 10-7 in the GLIAC and wraps up regular season play Saturday against 15th-ranked Grand Valley State.
Neither team hit better than .200 in the match, and the teams combined for 24 total blocks, 13 by the Bulldogs. Most other statistics were as even as one would imagine a match like this to be, with Hillsdale holding a 65-60 edge in total kills.
Hillsdale led the fifth set 8-3, but the Bulldogs responded big-time after the teams switched sides. Ferris State attacked Hillsdale with power from its outside hitters and quickly regained momentum in the match.
Junior Kat Vael secured a career-high 16 kills, seven of them coming in the first set when she put away seven out of her eight attempts.
Sophomore Emily Wolfert got stronger as the match moved along, and led all players with 18 kills in the match. She also played a terrific match defensively with 17 digs.
Senior Caitlin Kopmeyer joined the AVCA's 30-dig club, becoming the third player on the team to reach that mark in a match this season. She had a career-high 31 digs while playing all five sets at libero.
Sophomore Jenalle Beaman came off the bench to play excellent volleyball in both front and back rows, and had 10 kills, a .391 hitting percentage and eight digs.
Junior Alexis Waugh dished out 31 assists, tied for the second-most she's had in a match this season. Sophomore Marissa owen cranked out a double-double with 11 digs and 22 assists.