The first two matches of the loaded Ferris State Invitational, on Friday, saw the Hillsdale College volleyball team excel, picking up two quality wins.
On Saturday, the final day of the invite in Big Rapids, the strength of the field caught up with the Chargers, who dropped hard-fought matches to two quality opponents to finish the weekend 2-2 overall.
Winona State 3, #13 Hillsdale 1
Hillsdale fell into a two-set hole against undefeated Winona State in its first match on Saturday, and that deficit proved to be too much for the Chargers to overcome in a 3-1 loss to the Warriors.
Winona State came out firing in the first set, posting a .312 hitting percentage, to roll to a 25-18 victory and take an early edge.
The Chargers fought back in the second set, at one point taking a 17-13 lead, but couldn't hold off a determined rally by the Warriors late in the set to steal a 26-24 victory and take a two-set lead.
Hillsdale used a five-point mid-set run to pull away in the third set and get on the board with a 25-15 victory, but couldn't hold on to an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set as Winona St. closed the Chargers out, 25-22.
Junior outside hittter Karoline Shelton had a big match offensively for the Chargers, finishing with 16 kills on a .245 hitting percentage to lead the way, and also chipped in 17 digs.
Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen also had a strong outing for Hillsdale, finishing with 12 kills and five blocks at the net, and freshman Marilyn Popplewell played well in her first extended action, chipping in seven kills.
Freshman libero Alli Wiese led the Chargers defensively with 20 digs, sophomore defensive specialist Audrey Riley chipped in 18 digs and two aces, and senior defensive specialist Madie Schider added 17 digs.
Senior setter Lindsey Mertz finished with 35 assists and eight digs as well.
#9 Oklahoma Baptist 3, #13 Hillsdale 1
The Chargers pulled out a thrilling and extended win, 28-26, in the first set to gain an early edge in a showdown with ninth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist to close out this weekend's Ferris State Invitational.
But 13th-ranked Hillsdale couldn't build off the momentum of that strong start, dropping the next three sets to lose a battle of top-15 ranked teams in the AVCA Division II preseason poll on Saturday evening.
The Chargers took an early lead in the second set as well, 7-5, but gave up 12 of the next 13 points to allow the Bison to seize control and roll to a 25-18 victory. OBU added to its advantage with a furious close to the third set, scoring the final four points for another 25-18 victory to go up 2-1 in the match.
In the fourth set, the Chargers held a 24-21 advantage and looked to be on the verge of forcing a fifth and deciding set, but OBU scored six of the next seven points to close out the match with a 27-25 victory.
Hillsdale dug deep into its bench in the fourth match of a long and difficult weekend, with nearly all of the team's players seeing the court against the Bison.
Van Wienen led the way with another strong performance at the next, finishing with a team-high 13 kills and five total blocks. Senior outside hitter Maddie Clark chipped in nine kills and eight digs as well, Shelton chipped in eight kills and nine digs, and Popplewell added another seven kills to pace the Charger offense.
Wiese led the Chagers defensively with 21 digs, and Riley and freshman Amy Buffini each chipped in 13 digs as well.
Mertz finished with 37 assists as well for the Chargers, who had uncharacteristic struggles in both matches with attack errors (47 total on the day), serve-receive errors (14 on the day compared to five in the two wins on Friday) and service errors (nine on the day compared to two on Friday) that all gave free points to the Warriors and Bison.
No. 13 Hillsdale (2-2) still picked up a quality in-region win this weekend, and will look to get back on track with another tough tournament looming. The Chargers travel to West Palm Beach, Florida next Friday and Saturday for the Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach and four matches against quality competition, including Northeast-10 Conference title favorite American International, Conference Carolinas contender Emmanuel and the always-strong host, Palm Beach Atlantic.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22