The top-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team looked briefly to be in danger on Tuesday night, playing shorthanded against a strong Tiffin squad that also came in ranked in the nation.
But the Chargers battled through two tight sets, winning both, then put the 19th-ranked Dragons away with a dominant third-set performance to remain unbeaten overall and in G-MAC play, 25-20, 25-23, 25-8.
Playing in her first full match as the Chargers' setter, sophomore Madeline Zenas overcame a nervous start and asserted herself, finishing with a new single-match high 30 assists as well as four kills and nine digs. Zenas spread the ball around effectively, with four different Hillsdale players finishing with eight kills in the victory.
Junior Karoline Shelton led the Charger offensive attack with eight kills, 16 digs and one ace, junior Maggie DePorre chipped in eight kills 1.5 blocks, and senior Allyssa Van Wienen chipped in eight kills and six digs as well.
Freshman Maizie Brown had one of the best nights in her young Charger career, receiving more passes from the setter than in any match so far and finishing with eight kills on a .316 hitting percentage.
Defensively, freshman Alli Wiese led the Chargers with 21 digs and three service aces, and sophomore Audrey Riley added 12 digs and an ace as well.
Hillsdale was able to pull out the match by playing more error-free volleyball than its opponent. The Chargers committed 14 attack errors, three service errors and no serve-receive errors in the match, while forcing Tiffin into 27 attack errors and benefiting from five service errors and five serve-receive errors. Those extra points were the difference in extremely tight finishes in the first and second sets that Hillsdale was able to win.
The Chargers struggled to gain control of a back-and-forth first set, but got separation late when, leading 20-18, the Chargers scored three of the next four points on kills by Maizie Brown and Maddie Clark and a service ace from Wiese.
In set two, Hillsdale built a massive 21-9 lead with three kills each from Brown and DePorre, but Tiffin came roaring back, outscoring the Chargers 14-4 over the next 18 points to cut Hillsdale's lead to 24-23.
With the pressure on, Brown broke a seven-point Tiffin run and clinched the match with a clutch kill to put the Chargers up 2-0.
In the third set, Hillsdale jumped out to another gigantic lead, going up 20-5 at one point, and this time refused to let Tiffin back in the match, with kills by subs Linnea Larson and Emily Susitko helping the Chargers secure the final point.
Hillsdale is now 9-0 overall and 7-0 in G-MAC play, maintaining a one-game lead over Findlay in the conference standings. The Chargers continue a tough week on Friday, hosting 22nd-ranked Ohio Dominican at 7 p.m., and then stay at home on Saturday for a third-straight match against a ranked foe, taking on 24th-ranked Gannon, a 2019 Elite Eight team, in a nonconference match at 7 p.m.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop