It took until the final points for the Hillsdale College volleyball team to secure a victory on the road on Tuesday night.
But the Chargers were clutch when it counted to outlast host Northwood by a razor-thin margin, 28-26, 25-17, 24-26, 21-25, 15-12, and keep themselves in position to contend for a G-MAC North Division title over the final three weeks of the season.
Hillsdale had 2-0 lead and took big edges in both the third and fourth sets, but couldn't close out a hard-hitting Northwood squad that finished with 72 kills to the Chargers' 59, and outhit Hillsdale .181 to .167.
Lacking an edge at the net offensively, the Chargers had to piece together a winning formula in other ways. The biggest advantage the Chargers had was at the service line, where Hillsdale finished with 10 aces and just one missed serve against Northwood's six aces and eight missed serves -- a 12-point swing over the course of the match that proved critical, especially in the fifth and deciding set.
Hillsdale got an ace each from sophomore Amanda Hilliker and senior Audrey Riley in the fifth set, helping turn a tight two-point advantage at the midway point of the set into a significant four-point edge the Timberwolves couldn't overcome.
The most impactful server on the night for Hillsdale, however, was sophomore libero Alli Wiese, who tied a 25-point, rally scoring era program record for aces in a single match with six in the contest. Combined with the five aces she served in Hillsdale's match against Northern Michigan on Saturday, Wiese now has 11 in the Chargers' last two matches, proving her lethality behind the service line.
While Wiese made a key offensive contribution, she also was excellent defensively. Her 38 digs were two shy of the rally scoring era program record for digs in a single match of 40, held by her older sister Taylor, and she played a key role in extending several rallies that led to Hillsdale points in both the first and second sets.
The Chargers got off to a shaky start, falling behind 18-11 in the first set, and when Hillsdale rallied back, the Chargers still had to fight off two set points for Northwood to pull out a narrow 28-26 victory.
The momentum of that exhilarating comeback carried over to the second set, where Hillsdale put on a dominating performance that was their best offensive run of the night. The Chargers finished with 14 kills on a .344 hitting percentage to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
For a second, it looked like Hillsdale might get a sweep, as the Chargers held a 22-20 lead late in Set 3, but Northwood went on a 4-0 run to stave off elimination. A big 13-7 Hillsdale advantage in Set 4 also didn't last, as Northwood rallied to take that set as well and force a winner-take-all fifth set. Luckily, the Chargers were the more composed team in the final frame, pulling off a narrow victory to take the match.
While Wiese led the defense, senior Karoline Shelton led the offense with another big match, totalling 21 kills and 21 digs for her fifth consecutive double-double, as well as three total blocks. In an intense match where the Chargers leaned on every source of offense they could find, sophomore setter Lauren Passaglia was Hillsdale's next most consistent weapon at the net, finishing with nine kills on tips and second balls, while also chipping in 47 assists, 14 digs and four block assists.
Marilyn Popplewell added eight kills for the Chargers in the victory, and Maizie Brown chipped in six kills and a team-high six block assists as well.
The Chargers are now 18-6 overall, 10-2 in the G-MAC, and remain a game behind Findlay for first place in the G-MAC North Division with two matches between the two still to come. Hillsdale will look to keep pace and set up that first-place showdown next week by sweeping the weekend, with matches against Lake Erie on Friday and Ursuline on Saturday that Hillsdale can't overlook as it looks to retake the division lead.
Photo by Anthony Lupi