Much of the season, the clutch play late in close sets has been a strength of the Hillsdale College volleyball team.
Saturday afternoon, it was the Chargers' turn to be on the wrong end of such scores.
Taking on the 25th-ranked Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals, the Chargers lost two sets by a combined five points in a 3-1 home loss. Hillsdale fell to 13-3 overall and 7-2 in the GLIAC with the loss, while SVSU improved to 14-3/6-3.
In the opening set, Hillsdale held a 21-18 lead, only to see the Cardinals rally with a 7-1 run to emerge with a 25-22 win. SVSU clearly kept the momentum going into set 2, scoring the first five points of the set on its way to a 25-11 wipe out.
However, the six-minute break between sets two and three proved to be a key to a Charger turnaround. Suddenly, Hillsdale was serving more aggressively, and SVSU was struggling with its passing. Hillsdale cut the deficit to 2-1 with a 25-14 rout in set 3.
Set 4 played out very similar to set 1, as Hillsdale served with a 23-22 lead, two points away from forcing a fifth set. But the next two attacks by the Chargers went into the net, and an SVSU block ended the set with a 25-23 score.
The loss ruined a brilliant performance from senior Emily Wolfert, who had a season-high 17 kills, a .429 hitting percentage and 3 block assists. Wolfert played with power and authority all match long and was on the receiving end of some pinpoint sets from fellow senior Marissa Owen, who had 25 assists.
Junior Erin Holsinger capped a strong weekend with 12 kills, while hitting .435 with 3 block assists. Senior Haylee Booms added 8 kills for the offensive attack.
Senior Jenalle Beaman had 21 digs, while senior Jordan Denmark played active defense with 11 digs. Freshman Taylor Bennett added 20 assists and 7 digs for the Chargers.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Hillsdale struggled to find consistency from set to set in the match, hitting .316 in set 1, .030 in set 2, .310 in set 3, and .102 in set 4…The Chargers have rarely been outhit this year, but was in this match by the Cardinals, .2143 to .191…SVSU had 20 block assists in the match, a season-high for a Hillsdale opponent.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale plays in the Midwest Regional Volleyball Tournament in Aurora, Illinois next weekend, with opponents to be determined.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Klopfer