Among undefeated teams in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, the 17th-ranked Hillsdale College Chargers are the last team standing for the fourth consecutive year.
Hillsdale was up to the task against a hard-hitting Cedarville squad on Friday, rolling to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 victory that improved the Chargers to 8-0 in conference play, and coupled with an Ashland loss to Walsh on the same night, leaves them as the last unbeaten standing in G-MAC play in 2021.
The Yellow Jackets took Hillsdale to five sets in the spring G-MAC tournament semifinal with almost the same squad that was on the court on Friday, and tested the Chargers early in both of the first two sets. But down the stretch, Hillsdale had the answers in both sets to pull away and take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Chargers led just 18-17 in the first set but scored seven of the final nine points, thanks to kills from four different players. The Chargers also turned a 17-15 lead into a 20-15 advantage in set two thanks to three consecutive points, including a block by Maddie Clark and Maizie Brown.
As it has been all season, superior execution and efficiency made the difference for the Chargers in the victory. Hillsdale had seven fewer attack errors than Cedarville, four fewer service errors and one fewer reception error, and hit .279 for the match to Cedarville's .158 on roughly the same number of attempts.
Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen led the Chargers with 12 kills, 10 in the final two sets, and three total blocks, senior outside hitter Maggie DePorre chipped in nine kills, and junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton added nine kills and 10 digs.
Senior Maddie Clark chipped in five kills and two block assists as well for Hillsdale, while freshman libero Alli Wiese and senior defensive specialist Madie Schider each added nine digs on the night as well.
Senior setter Lindsey Mertz continued her strong play with 38 assists and seven digs, helping keep Cedarville's strong blocking off balance with pin-point accurate passing.
Now 15-2 overall, the Chargers have won 13 straight matches and will look to continue to add to that streak on Saturday against a solid Ohio Dominican team that's trying to stay afloat in the G-MAC South Division title race after two losses in their most recent three matches. A victory would guarantee Hillsdale the top G-MAC seed in next week's Midwest Regional Crossover at the Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Indiana, and with it a better chance at resume-building matches against top teams from the GLVC and GLIAC.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22