There's no place like home.
And for the Hillsdale College volleyball team, after three weeks and eight straight matches on the road, the friendly confines of Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena were a good place to be on Friday night.
Backed by a raucous home crowd excited to see the Chargers for the first time in a while, Hillsdale pushed past visiting Lake Erie in a 25-15, 25-16, 25-22 sweep.
For the third straight match, excellent serving was the difference for Hillsdale, which finished with 12 aces on the night. Sophomores Amy Buffini and Amanda Hilliker each served up three aces in the match, while Alli Wiese and Maizie Brown each added two aces for the Chargers.
Serving also was key to Hillsdale closing out the match in the third set. After rolling to two dominant victories in the first two sets, the Chargers dug themselves a deep hole in set three, and trailed 22-18 late in the set. But Wiese went on an eight-point serving run to close out the set and the match for the Chargers, serving both of her aces in that stretch and creating several additional points for the Chargers off of serves that were played by the Storm but not well enough to lead to effective attacks.
While Hillsdale got a lot of work done at the service line, it was also a solid hitting night for the Chargers, who finished with 37 kills and a .266 hitting percentage on the night. With the entire team that was dressed seeing playing time, several different players got involved offensively, led by Marilyn Popplewell, who finished with eight kills on .375 hitting for the night. Senior Linnea Larson chipped in six kills for Hillsdale, and freshman Emory Braswell added five.
Defensively, Wiese led the Chargers with 13 digs, while Hilliker chipped in 11 in an all-around impressive night for the sophomore. Megan Kolp, Maizie Brown and Adi Sysum each chipped in two block assists for the Chargers at the net as well.
Three different setters played for Hillsdale in the contest. Lauren Passaglia had a solid night, playing in one and a half sets and finishing with 17 assists and three kills. Senior Madeline Zenas chipped in nine assists in one set played as well.
The Chargers improve to 19-6 overall and 11-2 in the G-MAC with the victory. Hillsdale hosts Ursuline tomorrow, Saturday, looking to secure its sixth-straight 20 win season and set up a winner-take-all doubleheader showdown with the G-MAC North Division crown on the line the following weekend.
Photo by Anthony Lupi