The top-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team entered Tuesday afternoon's match with #12 Findlay with questions to answer.
Could the Chargers bounce back from seeing their 50-match home win streak snapped in a 3-1 loss to Gannon on Saturday, against a tough conference opponent and a top 15 team in Division II?
The answer was a resounding yes, as Hillsdale downed the Oilers 25-18, 26-24, 25-13 to get back on track and improve to 11-1 overall and 9-0 in G-MAC play.
After struggling through one of their worst hitting nights of the season on Saturday, the Chargers were ruthlessly efficient against Findlay, hitting .299 and finishing with 46 kills to the Oilers' 32.
Senior Allyssa Van Wienen stepped up with a performance that reminded everyone why she was a consensus first-team All-American last year, finishing with a tieam-high 16 kills on a .414 hitting percentage, and also adding in nine digs and four block assists.
Junior Karoline Shelton was close behind with 13 kills on a .379 hitting percentage and also added 11 digs. Five other Chargers finished with at least three kills as sophomore setter Madeline Zenas finished with 38 assists, a career-best for a three set match.
Defensively, freshman libero Alli Wiese led the way with 14 digs, senior Madie Schider chipped in nine digs and two aces, and sophomore Audrey Riley added nine digs as well.
Senior Maddie Clark was effective throughout at the net, finishing with three kills and chipping in one solo block and three block assists.
Hillsdale's closest call came in the second set, when Findlay stayed close throughout and tied the Chargers at 24 points, but an Oiler service error gave Hillsdale an opening to take the set, and Shelton powered down a kill to finish with a 26-24 victory.
Hillsdale has just two matches remaining in the regular season and can clinch its fourth-straight G-MAC title this weekend on the road if it can get victories over No. 25 Cedarville on Friday and Ohio Valley on Saturday. Wins against those two teams also would allow the Chargers to earn the top seed in next week's G-MAC Tournament.
Photo by Anthony Lupi