NCAA volleyball is back, and no one is happier about it than the Hillsdale College volleyball team.
The Chargers opened the 2021 season at the Ferris St. Invite on Friday, testing their mettle against two strong opponents, picking up two victories and seeing seniors Lindsey Mertz and Madie Schider each reach notable career milestones along the way.
#13 Hillsdale 3, #21 Missouri-St. Louis 2
The #13 Hillsdale College volleyball team struggled for control with 21st-ranked Missouri-St. Louis throughout the first four sets of the opening match on Friday.
But when it was do or die in the fifth and deciding set, the Chargers left no doubts.
Hillsdale rolled past the Tritons 15-3 in the final set to break a 2-2 tie and seal a critical Midwest Region win over a quality opponent in both teams' season opener.
The Chargers scored the final nine points of the set unanswered to clinch the match. Reigning G-MAC Player of the Year Karoline Shelton served eight straight points, including two aces, and 2019 G-MAC Player of the Year and All-American Allyssa Van Wienen added two kills as well to help put the Tritons away.
Hillsdale jumped on UMSL from the start of the fifth set, scoring six of the first eight points to force an early Triton timeout and never looking back. Shelton had kills on three of those six points to help give the Chargers the edge at a critical juncture in the match.
It was important that Hillsdale found another gear in the fifth set, as UMSL proved to be a worthy adversary. The Chargers had to dig deep and rally from late deficits in each of the first two sets to pull out narrow 25-21 and 25-23 victories that gave Hillsdale an early 2-0 edge in the match.
But the Tritons refused to go quietly, pulling away midway through both the third and fourth sets for a pair of 25-19 victories that evened up the match and forced a deciding fifth set.
In the end, however, the Chargers' depth and offensive balance made the difference. Hillsdale had five players with seven or more kills in the match to UMSL's two, and the Chargers' ability to spread the ball around and keep its attackers fresh made a big difference in the final set.
Shelton led the way with a stellar contest, finishing with 18 kills and three aces while also tying her career single match high in digs with 21. Not to be outdone, VanWienen chipped in 15 kills of her own, as well as two solo blocks and four block assists.
Paving the way for an effective day offensively for the Chargers was senior setter Lindsay Mertz, who finished with 57 assists and achieved a career milestone in the match, becoming just the fourth Charger in program history to exceed 4,000 assists. Mertz, who's on pace to become Hillsdale's career record-holder in assists, also added 11 digs for the Chargers.
Sophomore middle hitter Megan Kolp chipped in nine kills and three blocks, freshman Maizie Brown added eight kills and three blocks, and senior Maggie DePorre chipped in seven kills as well for the Charger offense.
Defensively, freshman Alli Wiese led the way with 25 digs and senior Madie Schider chipped in 24. The back row was a critical factor in the Chargers' victory, as Hillsdale outdug the Tritons 101 to 88 and had three serve-receive errors to UMSL's seven.
#13 Hillsdale 3, Saint Leo 0
The Chargers capped a strong first day at the Ferris St. Invite in Big Rapids, Michigan by making quick work of a quality Saint Leo squad that was in the NCAA DII Elite Eight just two years ago and received votes in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 poll.
Hillsdale used big runs both early and late in sets to seize control on the way to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-17 victory over the Lions. Strong play at the net – the Chargers finished with 42 kills and 14 total blocks to Saint Leo's 33 and 4 – played a big role for Hillsdale in the victory, as did rock-solid serving (six aces) and serve-receive (just one serve-receive error).
Senior Allyssa Van Wienen continued a strong start to the season with a dominant performance against the Lions, leading Hillsdale with 13 kills and six total blocks, and senior Maggie DePorre added six kills as well.
Big leads meant the Chargers were able to get an extended look at multiple freshmen. Point Loma Nazarene transfer and outside hitter Amy Buffini put on an impressive performance with six kills in just her second match as a Charger, while setter Lauren Passaglia also saw action late and recorded her first collegiate kill and assist.
Freshmen Alli Wiese finished with 18 digs and three aces to lead the Chargers defensively, while senior Madie Schider also made a big contribution with 13 digs and two aces. Schider's digs were enough to put her over 1,000 digs for her Hillsdale career, making her just the 10th player in program history to achieve that feat.
Setter Lindsey Mertz had another solid performance running the Charger offense against Saint Leo, finishing with 34 assists and seven digs as well.
Hillsdale (2-0) has another big day on Saturday as it wraps up play at the Ferris State Invite. The Chargers close the invitational at 4:30 p.m. with another big ranked showdown against #9 Oklahoma Baptist – but first Hillsdale will have to battle a strong Winona State team that swept OBU on Friday in a surprising upset. Both matches give Hillsdale additional chances at quality wins to boost their resume heading into conference play in two weeks.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22