Reaching 20 wins in the regular season is generally seen as the mark of a successful volleyball campaign at the NCAA Division II level.
And the Hillsdale College volleyball team has made reaching that mark a regular occurrence in recent years.
The Chargers did it once again for the 2023 season on Saturday, sweeping past host Trevecca Nazarene 25-15, 26-24, and 25-22 to improve to 20-5 on the year. It's a program record seventh-straight season with 20 or more wins for Hillsdale, and their eighth in nine seasons.
After a dominant first set that saw the Chargers hit .281 with 11 kills and force the Trojans into 10 attack errors, Hillsdale had to scrap and claw for the next two set wins. The Chargers had three set points in the second set at 24-21 but had to hold off a furious late rally by Trevecca, eventually putting the Trojans away on a Marilyn Popplewell kill at 26-24. In set three, Hillsdale was the one that had to rally, outscoring the Trojans 9-3 after trailing 19-16 late in the set to close out the match.
Popplewell had a strong day for Hillsdale to bounce back from an uncharacteristically error-prone outing in the Chargers' sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday. The junior finished with a match-high 14 kills on .306 hitting, and also contributed 14 digs and three total blocks for a double-double. Junior Maizie Brown added six kills on .400 hitting and two block assists for the Chargers, and Emory Braswell and Megan Kolp chipped in six and five kills, respectively.
Junior Alli Wiese finished with 12 digs and three service aces for Hillsdale, and Audrey Riley added nine digs as well for the Chargers. Setter Lauren Passaglia finished with 22 assists, four kills and nine digs as well for Hillsdale.
Now 12-2 in G-MAC play, Hillsdale faces a critical weekend at home as it looks to give itself a chance to catch Walsh for the G-MAC North Division and outright G-MAC lead down the stretch. The Chargers are two games back of the Cavaliers in the standings but could get a game back this weekend as they host Walsh on Saturday, Nov. 4. First, however, Hillsdale can't afford to overlook Malone, who the Chargers take on this Friday at 7 p.m. in a big contest.
Photo by Jordan Monnin