The 12th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team won its 58th straight match in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on the road on Friday, sweeping host Malone with a balanced offensive attack.
The Chargers overwhelmed the Pioneers from all angles in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-22 win, finishing with 44 kills and three separate players with 11 or more kills on the night.
Junior Karoline Shelton led the Chargers in kills for the third straight match with 12 in just two sets, and helped get Hillsdale off to a fast start with eight kills and three aces in a first set the Chargers controlled from start to finish.
Hillsdale jumped out to a 13-5 lead in set two thanks to an 8-0 run that included two solo blocks and two blocks assists by senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen, but Malone responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take a 19-16 lead, their largest of the match.
On the back foot for the first time this season, the Chargers responded with a 4-0 run to retake the lead, sparked by a block from sophomore Megan Kolp and freshman Mazie Brown, and held off the Pioneers to go up 2-0 in the match.
In the third and final set, Hillsdale jumped out to a 5-1 lead, keyed by two kills each from Van Wienen and junior Maggie DePorre, and never trailed again. Van Wienen had seven of her 11 kills in the final set to help keep the Pioneers at bay and seal the victory.
Along with those 11 kills, Van Wienen chipped in two solo blocks and three block assists, as well as seven digs. DePorre also chipped in 11 kills and seven digs for the Chargers, and Kolp added six kills and two block assists.
Senior Lindsey Mertz set up the Charger attack with 34 assists, passing former Hillsdale star and All-American Apryl Schmucker for fourth all-time in career assists with the Charger program with her performance on the night.
Senior libero Madie Schider led Hillsdale defensively with 16 digs and also chipped in two service aces, freshman Alli Wiese added 11 digs and two aces, and sophomore Audrey Riley chipped in 10 digs.
The Charger offense was once again efficient in the victory, posting a hitting percentage of .214 and a 2.31 kill to attack error ratio, while holding a dangerous Malone offense to a 0.111 hitting percentage.
Hillsdale (3-0) remains tied for first place atop the G-MAC and has a chance to dispatch one of the teams it currently shares the top spot with when it travels to 3-0 Walsh tomorrow for an 11 a.m. match.
Photo by Anthony Lupi