In one of the best played matches of an invitational full of great ones, the 22nd-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team pushed #14 Colorado School of Mines to the brink but couldn't quite get over the hump in a 25-20, 25-27, 23-25, 24-26 loss to close out the Chargers' home invitational on Saturday.
As indicated by the set scores, the Chargers hung tough with the Orediggers -- Hillsdale had two set point opportunities in the second set, was tied at 23-23 in the third, and tied at 24-24 in the fourth -- but Mines' cleaner execution late was the difference in a tight match from start to finish.
Hilsdale entered Saturday's game with a perfect 3-0 record in their home invite, and seemed well on their way to making a clean sweep of the event in the first set. The Chargers jumped out to 17-10 lead and rolled to a 25-20 set victory by playing excellent defense, hitting near-flawlessly with 17 kills, and taking advantage of Oredigger miscues.
But as Mines tightened up its play in the second set onwards, the firepower of the Orediggers' senior-laden lineup became too much to overcome. Mines finished with 77 kills in the match, including 21 in the second set and 20 in the fourth set.
That power at the net was especially telling late in sets. The Orediggers scored four of the final five points in set two, two on kills, three of the final four points in set three, two on kills, and five of the final seven points in set four, with four coming on kills.
Hillsdale's efficiency -- the Chargers outhit the Orediggers .237 to .228 -- and lack of mistakes gave the Chargers a chance to take the match nonetheless. But one of Hillsdale's two service errors and two of the Chargers' four reception errors came after 23 points in sets, and those rare mistakes proved costly for Hillsdale in such a high-level match against a powerful opponent.
The Chargers got a strong outing offensively from senior Karoline Shelton, who finished with 12 kills and 15 digs for her seventh double-double of the season, and also got 10 kills and seven total blocks from Maizie Brown.
Sophomore Marilyn Popplewell, who was named Tournament MVP for her strong overall performance throughout the weekend, chipped in nine kills as well for the Chargers, senior Linnea Larson added seven kills and eight total blocks, and senior Megan Kolp chipped in four kills.
Sophomore Alli Wiese, who was named the Outstanding Libero of the invitational, led the Charger defense with 21 digs, and sophomore setter Lauren Passaglia, who was named to the All-Tournament team for her strong performances in all four matches, finished with 45 assists, 13 digs and four kills.
The Chargers are now 6-2 overall and, while falling short of going undefeated, had a strong weekend overall, posting the best record in a tournament filled with teams who either are or have been nationally ranked this season, and picking up notable victories against Midwest Regional foes Ferris State and Missouri S&T.
Hillsdale wraps up non-conference play on Tuesday with another critical regional match against visiting Davenport at 7 p.m. The Panthers are off to a strong start and look like a potential NCAA Tournament team, giving the Chargers a shot at a resume-boosting victory if Hillsdale can defend home court on Tuesday.
Photo by McKenna Eichholz