The 2016 season home opener was a win for the ages.
The Hillsdale College volleyball team pulled out a 3-2 win over Grand Valley State University in a well-played, intense match at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. Hillsdale is now 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the GLIAC, while the Lakers fell to 5-4 and 0-1.
It was the Chargers' first win over Grand Valley State since the 2012 NCAA Division II regional quarterfinal.
The Chargers started the match playing smooth and tough, winning the first two sets 25-22 and 25-20. But three serving errors in quick succession in the third set helped swing momentum to the Lakers' favor. GVSU won the next two sets 25-22 and 25-13, playing with more confidence and improved defense throughout the sets.
Set five was as tight as could be, with neither team building more than a three-point lead. A kill by Shannon Winicki gave the Lakers a 12-11 lead in the fifth set. After a Hillsdale timeout, the Chargers dug down and scored four of the match's last five points for the thrilling 15-13 fifth-set win.
Sophomore right-side hitter Paige VanderWall was simply amazing in this match, and stepped up when her team needed her most. She delivered back-to-back kills to flip the score from 12-11 to 13-12. Erin Holsinger and Kara Vyletel teamed up on a big block to make it 14-12. A Laker point made it a one-point game, but the Chargers finished off Grand Valley State thanks to Vyletel's 18th kill of the match.
Vyletel and VanderWall each notched career-highs in kills in this match. Vyletel was on fire to start the match, generating 11 kills on just 15 attempts before committing her first hitting error. She finished with 18 kills and 16 digs with a .293 hitting percentage.
VanderWall was hitting, leaping and finishing passes all night, hitting around and over the GVSU block with remarkable expertise. She notched a career-high 22 kills with a .372 hitting percentage. Her kills total is the fourth-most in a single match in school history, and ties for the most kills by any Charger player in any match since Ashlee Crowder had 24 against Indianapolis on November 20, 2011.
Hillsdale hit .368 and .462 in winning the first two sets. But its percentage plummeted to –.086 in the fourth set. But the Chargers showed calm and maturity, holding the Lakers to a .192 hitting percentage in the fifth set.
Senior Erin Holsinger had 3 solo blocks, 3 block assists and 10 kills for the Chargers. Junior Jackie Langer added 11 kills and 9 digs. Sophomore Taylor Bennett smashed her previous career-high with 62 assists in the win over the Lakers.
PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Vyletel
UP NEXT: Hillsdale hosts Ferris State at 2 p.m. Saturday.