Twice this season, the Charger volleyball team has rallied from an 0-2 deficit to post 3-2 victories. Friday night, it had the tables turned on it.
Wayne State steadily improved its all-around play throughout the match, and rallied for a five-set victory over Hillsdale at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The result ended the Chargers' five-match winning streak, and sets the team at 12-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
Hillsdale encountered little resistance in the opening set, and played with all cylinders clicking in a 25-11 victory. The Chargers raced out to a 12-1 lead and never looked back, clearly outplaying the visitors.
Set 2 was more evenly played, but Hillsdale still held the upper hand throughout, winning by a 25-22 margin.
Set 3 saw the momentum of the match begin to shift, as Wayne State's passing and defense improved. The Warriors won sets 3 and 4 by scores of 25-21 and 25-23.
The momentum didn't stop in set 5, as a now-confident Warriors team executed extremely well on offense and defense. Wayne State scored a 15-7 win in set 5, earning its first win over Hillsdale in eight years. The Chargers had won 11 in a row over the Warriors before this match.
Serving and passing were key parts of the Charger struggles in the final three sets. Although passing isn't clearly visible statistically, Hillsdale had a tough time getting into a comfortable system. On the serving side, the Chargers were minus-12 overall in points, getting just three service aces compared to six serving errors and nine serve reception errors. That margin was so big, it wiped out big advantages Hillsdale had in blocks, kills and digs. In total points, Hillsdale outscored Wayne State 81-73, but still lost, a true statistical anomaly.
The Chargers registered a season-high 8 solo blocks, led by 3 each from Jackie Langer and Kyra Rodi. Sophomore Kara Vyletel was forced to work a ton on defense, but her offense was spectacular, as she finished with a match-high 17 kills with a .341 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Paige VanderWall and senior Erin Holsinger each delivered 13 kills for the Chargers, and Langer had 11 kills to go along with 6 digs and 5 block assists.
Freshman Taylor Wiese led the team with 14 digs, while sophomore setter Taylor Bennett had 42 assists and 13 digs.
UP NEXT: The Chargers host the University of Findlay at 2 p.m. Saturday.
PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Vyletel