An emphatic weekend showing has the 17th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team riding high heading into the critical Midwest Region crossover next week.
The Chargers made quick work of a strong Ohio Dominican team, rolling to a 25-12, 25-17, 25-16 victory at home on Saturday to improve to 16-2 overall and 9-0 in G-MAC play.
This was just Hillsdale's fourth home match of the season as the Chargers have spent all but two weekends on the road, and the friendly confines of Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena seemed to bring out the best in the Chargers, who out-hit the Panthers.308 to .083 in the contest.
Hillsdale dominated the first set, scoring 11 of the next 12 points after Ohio Dominican cut their lead to 9-7 to pull away. Sophomore middle hitter Megan Kolp had six of her eight kills in the set to get the Chargers off to an excellent start.
ODU came back hard in the second set, pushing the Chargers throughout and cutting Hillsdale's lead to 17-16 at one point. But the Chargers again went on a huge run, scoring eight of the next nine points, to secure a victory. Junior Karoline Shelton was the start of set two Hillsdale, with five of her 10 kills in the match helping keep the Panthers at bay.
In set three, it was Allyssa Van Wienen's turn to take the lead, as the Charger senior middle hitter had seven of her team-high 11 kills in the set to help close out the Panthers in three sets.
Hillsdale's variety of offensive weapons was too much for Ohio Dominican to handle. On top of those three players, Amy Buffini also chipped in five kills and Maddie Clark four as well for the Chargers.
Defensively, Shelton finished with 19 digs for her 11th double-double of the season, senior Madie Schider and freshman Alli Wiese each chipped in 15 digs for Hillsdale, and Audrey Riley added 10 digs.
Senior setter Lindsey Mertz finished with 22 assists in just two sets of action, as well as three kills and three service aces. Schider and Wiese each chipped in two aces as well as the Chargers 8-3 edge in aces played a major role in Hillsdale's success on the night.
Sophomore Maizie Brown added five total blocks at the net for the Chargers.
Hillsdale is now riding a 14-match winning streak and is two games up in the G-MAC North Division on second-place Findlay. The Chargers now wait to find out their three opponents in the Midwest Region Crossover next Friday and Saturday, which will be announced later this weekend. As the top seed for the G-MAC, Hillsdale should face several quality foes from the GLVC and GLIAC in the event, held at the Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Indiana.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22
