The 17th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team completed a successful road stretch with a third straight sweep on Saturday.
The Chargers took down Ursuline 25-15, 25-21, 25-19, behind one of their best serving performances of the season.
Hillsdale finished with 11 service aces in the match, led by three ace days from freshman libero Alli Wiese and senior setter Lindsey Mertz. Defensive specialists Audrey Riley and Madie Schider each chipped in two aces as well.
While points from the service line helped turbo-charge the Hillsdale offense, the Chargers also had a solid day at the net, hitting .241. Junior Karoline Shelton once again led the way for the Chargers with her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with a team high 12 kills as well as 14 digs.
Senior outside hitter Maddie Clark added six kills and two block assists for the Chargers, and middle hitters Maizie Brown and Allyssa Van Wienen each chipped in five kills and three block assists as well.
Defensively, Wiese led the Chargers with 24 digs, her highest total in a three set match this season. Mertz finished with 30 assists as well Hillsdale in the victory, along with three kills and five digs.
Hillsdale trailed early in all three sets but reeled off big runs midway through all three sets to seize control. The Chargers put pressure on Ursuline defensively, holding the Arrows to a .127 hitting percentage and forcing them into 18 attack errors.
The Chargers improve to 13-2 overall, and 7-0 in the G-MAC with the victory. Next, Hillsdale returns home after five matches on the road for just their third and fourth home matches of the season on Friday, Oct. 8 and Saturday Oct. 9. The Chargers play a tough Cedarville team that took them to five sets in the G-MAC tournament last year on Friday at 7 p.m., then take on an Ohio Dominican team that's in contention for a G-MAC South Division title. Two wins would guarantee the Chargers a perfect conference record heading into the Midwest Regional Crossover in Hammond, Indiana on Oct. 15 and 16 the following weekend.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22