A new era of Hillsdale College athletics opened successfully in more ways than one Friday night.
The newly named and renovated Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena opened to rave reviews and a big crowd, and housed the Charger volleyball team's 2014 home opener. Hillsdale dispatched Lake Erie College by a 3-0 score, winning the sets by scores of 25-13, 25-16 and 25-14. The Chargers are 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the GLIAC, and host winless Ashland University in a key South Division clash at 2:00 Saturday.
The arena now features blue bleachers on all sides and a brand-new locker room for the college's volleyball and basketball teams. The Chargers haven't gotten much practice time on their new court, but played with the type of calm and execution that a home-court advantage is supposed to give a team.
Junior Jordan Denmark set the tone for the win with three straight service aces that helped spring the Chargers out to an 8-0 lead in the first set. Denmark went on to have one of her best all-around matches, playing with power on offense to go along with her aggressive serving. She had 7 kills, 4 aces and 12 digs on the match.
The Chargers had a .333 hitting percentage, putting down 43 kills compared to just 11 hitting errors. They held the Storm to a .120 hitting percentage, including .036 in the opening set.
Junior Marissa Owen expertly directed the team's offense with 37 assists, a career-high in a three-set match. She assisted on all but six of Hillsdale's kills on the match, which is an indication of her strong set accuracy and decision-making.
Owen's ball distribution can be seen in the fact that no Charger had more than 16 attack attempts, but six had between eight and 16 attempts.
Junior Emily Wolfert played with power on offense and had a team-high 8 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. Junior Haylee Booms added 7 kills with a .400 hitting percentage, while freshman libero Brittany Jandasek had 10 digs in her home debut.