Despite a great effort and a gutsy fifth-set comeback, the Hillsdale College volleyball team came up just short in a marathon showdown with undefeated Walsh on the road on Sunday afternoon, falling in five sets by the narrowest of margins, 25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 18-20 to the Cavaliers for their first G-MAC loss.
Hillsdale took more points across the five sets and looked dominant in sets one and two victories, but couldn't finish off the match in sets three and four despite holding 23-22 leads in both, as Walsh scored the final three points of each to force a fifth set.
Walsh stormed out to an early edge in the fifth set, and, leading 14-10 with four match points, looked poised to finish things off, but a gritty 5-0 run by the Chargers with Alli Wiese on the service line that included huge blocks by Megan Kolp and Maizie Brown flipped the situation on its head and gave Hillsdale a match point of its own, leading 15-14.
Like sets three and four, however, it was not to be for the Chargers, as Hillsdale made one mistake too many with the match on the line in extra points in the fifth. Two service errors by the Chargers and a conceded ace gave Walsh just enough daylight to take the victory and hand Hillsdale their first-ever loss to the Cavaliers by the most razor-thin of margins.
The Chargers outpaced the Cavaliers in kills, 63-60, in the match but struggled with attack errors in the final three sets, hitting .188 to Walsh's .233. The Cavaliers' tough front line played a role in that performance, as Walsh recorded 13 blocks to Hillsdale's seven to more than make up for the gap in kills between the two squads.
Junior Marilyn Popplewell played an excellent match on the outside to give Hillsdale a chance in the match, hitting .375 with a season-high 22 kills as well as 13 digs and three service aces. The Mason, Ohio native had back-to-back kills late in the fifth set to give the Chargers their final chance at match point, leading 17-16, before Walsh took four of the final five points to take the match.
Emory Braswell chipped in 13 kills and eight digs as well for Hillsdale, Maizie Brown added nine kills and six block assists, and Megan Kolp chipped in eight kills and six block assists as well.
Wiese led the Chargers defensively and at the service line in the contest, finishing with a team-high 24 digs and six service aces in the match, while setter Lauren Passaglia also had a strong performance, with a season-high 53 assists and eight digs.
While the loss, which snaps a 12-match Hillsdale winning streak, hurts, it's imperative the Chargers (13-3, 7-1 G-MAC) move on quickly, as the title race in both the North Division and the conference overall is far from over. Hillsdale will get another shot at the Cavaliers in November on the Chargers' home floor, but until then Hillsdale will have to focus on keeping pace with Walsh in the standings despite several tough matches ahead, starting with another road trip to G-MAC North foe Northwood next Friday at 7 p.m. The Timberwolves took Hillsdale to five sets in a tough match on Sept. 20, so the Chargers will have to be ready for another challenging road contest.
Photo by Anthony Lupi