In one of the biggest showdowns on the G-MAC calendar this season, the Hillsdale College volleyball team dominated from start to finish at home on Friday night to hand G-MAC South Division leader Ashland just their second loss in conference play, in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-13 victory.
Ashland entered the contest with one of the most dangerous offenses in the conference, but impressive serving by Hillsdale kept the Eagles off-balance and out of system the entire night. The Chargers served up nine aces to Ashland's three, led by three aces from junior Amanda Hilliker, but even on serves that weren't aces, Hillsdale was consistently forcing the Eagles into bad passes off the serve-receive and stopping the Eagles' offense before it could start. Ashland hit just .083 on the night, while the Chargers feasted on over passes and free balls to hit .330 in the victory.
The Charger built big leads in sets 1 and 3, jumping out to a 13-4 advantage with a 6-0 run in set one, punctuated by back-to-back kills from setter Lauren Passagila, and a 9-1 opening in set three, capped by back-to-back kills from junior Maizie Brown.
Set two was close early, but once again the Chargers used a big 6-0 run, with four kills in that stretch, to take a 10-5 lead and never trail again.
While Ashland's offense never got on track, Hillsdale's offensive balance ensured that the Eagles' defense was equally out of sorts. Five different players finished with five or more kills for the Chargers, who hit Ashland from all sides and kept the Eagles guessing on the attack throughout the night. Senior Megan Kolp led the way with nine kills on a .571 hitting percentage, while Brown added eight kills and two solo blocks and junior Marilyn Popplewell chipped in eight kills and six digs.
Emory Braswell added seven kills and two block assists as well for Hillsdale, and Passaglia finished with five kills from the setter position, along with a team-high 23 assists and seven digs.
On a night where she was honored for surpassing the 2,000-dig milestone, junior Alli Wiese had a strong defensive night, finishing with 18 digs to lead the Chargers, and Hilliker chipped in 13 digs as well to go with her three service aces. Audrey Riley added two service aces as well for Hillsdale.
Friday's contest with Ashland was the first in a big three-game weekend for the Chargers, now 17-4 overall and 9-1 in the G-MAC. Hillsdale faces off with Ohio Dominican at home tomorrow, Saturday, at 1 p.m. looking to keep pace with G-MAC leader Walsh ahead of a rematch with the Cavaliers in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena in two weeks. The Chargers can't afford to get caught looking ahead, however, as the Panthers are a tough opponent, and Hillsdale has another tough contest looming against rival Findlay on Sunday.
Photo by Jordan Monnin