The Hillsdale College volleyball team had a marathon day in Hammond, Indiana on Friday, playing the maximum 10 sets in two matches as part of the 2022 Midwest Regional Crossover.
However, while the Chargers fought to the bitter end in both contests, Hillsdale came up short in both outings against tough regional opponents.
Grand Valley St. 3, Hillsdale 2
The Chargers opened the Crossover with a hard-fought five set loss to Grand Valley State on Friday morning.
Hillsdale used a dominant hitting performance to take set one, putting down 16 kills at a .318 clip in a 25-20 victory, then took a 2-1 lead on a gritty defensive effort in set 3. In that set, the Chargers pulled out a narrow 25-22 victory despite being outhit by the Lakers thanks to two service aces each from Alli Wiese and Marilyn Popplewell, and four service errors by GVSU that led to an eight-point swing.
But the Chargers couldn't pay off that strong start and set advantage in the end as GVSU hit .447 in the fourth set with 18 kills to take a 25-12 victory, and was near-perfect in the fifth and deciding set, hitting .647 with nine kills and no errors in a 15-5 Lakers win.
The Chargers hit the ball solidly, finishing with 56 kills at a respectable and efficient .211 clip, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with a red-hot Lakers offense, which finished with 72 kills and hit .353 for the match.
Senior Karoline Shelton led the Chargers offensively with 17 kills and 25 digs, recording her 12th double-double of the season and tying her previous season high in digs. Sophomore Marilyn Popplewell chipped in 12 kills on a .250 hitting percentage as well for Hillsdale, and senior Megan Kolp finished 11 kills for her fourth double-digit kill match in the last six, while also adding four block assists.
Defensively, sophomore Alli Wiese chipped in 20 digs and three service aces as well for Hillsdale, while sophomore Sydney Sahr led the Chargers at the net with seven total blocks to go with nine kills.
Sophomore setter Lauren Passaglia chipped in 44 assists as well for Hillsdale in the loss.
#22 Lewis 3, Hillsdale 2
Hillsdale closed out its first day at the 2022 Midwest Regional Crossover with another close, hard-fought five set heartbreaker against another tough foe from an opposing conference.
The Chargers started strong against 22nd-ranked Lewis to begin the match, taking each of the first two sets, but the Flyers battled back and ultimately prevailed, 3-2, by a narrow margin in the final set, 15-11.
Hillsdale's offensive efficiency was a key part of the Chargers' excellent first two sets. The Chargers finished with 29 kills across the two sets with just seven attack errors, while forcing the Flyers into 15 errors of their own, to take impressive 25-16 and 25-19 victories.
But as the match wore on, Hillsdale's less error-prone offense couldn't keep up with the sheer volume of kills Lewis was creating. The Flyers flipped the script on the Chargers in the third and fourth sets, reducing their errors and cranking out 34 total kills to take dominant 25-18 and 25-19 victories of their own to even up the match.
In the fifth and deciding set, Hillsdale hung close, trailing just 10-9 late in the set. But Lewis reeled off three straight points, including a service ace, to take a commanding 13-9 lead, and though the Chargers were able to stay alive and get back to 13-11, that deficit would be too much to overcome as the Flyers found the two points they needed to close out the match.
Senior Karoline Shelton had a big match for the Chargers, tying her career high with 22 kills and chipping in 23 digs to help keep the Chargers in the match. Sophomore Marilyn Popplewell chipped in 12 kills and eight digs as well for Hillsdale, while freshman Emory Braswell helped the Chargers get off to a strong start, finishing with five of her eight kills in the first set.
Although Hillsdale was able to match or exceed Lewis in several statistics, ultimately, the difference in total kills – Lewis' 67 to Hillsdale's 56 – proved to be the most important separator in the match.
Defensively, Alli Wiese led Hillsdale with 27 digs and three aces, while Audrey Riley chipped in 16 digs and Amanda Hilliker added 14.
Setter Lauren Passaglia led the Chargers with 38 assists, as well as nine digs, and Maizie Brown chipped in four total blocks for Hillsdale.
The Chargers fall to 16-6 overall after dropping both matches on Friday. Hillsdale will play one more match on Saturday, and will find out its opponent and the match time later tonight after the evening games conclude.
Photo by Anthony Lupi