A painful loss at Walsh at the start of October still fresh in their minds, the Hillsdale College volleyball team came into Saturday's rematch with the Cavaliers with payback on their minds.
And the Chargers got that and then some, rolling past Walsh 25-18, 25-14, 25-20 in three quick and decisive sets on Senior Day in front of a raucous home crowd.
Walsh entered the match the runaway favorite to take the G-MAC regular season title, with a perfect 15-0 record, but on Saturday they were barely even a speed bump to a steamroller performance by a motivated Hillsdale squad that outhit, outserved and outplayed the Cavaliers in nearly every facet of the match.
Hillsdale seized control by the midway point all three sets and rarely trailed for long in the match. Down 13-12 halfway through a back-and-forth first set, Hillsdale went on a 9-1 run that included three kills from Maizie Brown and two from Marilyn Popplewell to pull away for good. Not even a late push by Walsh could get them back in the set.
Set two was even more dominant for the Chargers, who never trailed and scored 13 of the final 17 points to turn a 12-10 edge into a runaway victory. Walsh came out with determination in the third set to try and extend the match, taking an early advantage and leading as late as 11-10, but another 7-2 run keyed by big kills from Popplewell and Brown gave Hillsdale a 17-13 lead it wouldn't relinquish. Emory Braswell had two big kills down the stretch for the Chargers to keep them ahead, and senior Megan Kolp finished the match with a big kill from the right side to complete the sweep.
Both Brown and Popplewell were phenomenal for the Chargers on the attack, each finishing with 11 kills to lead all players in the victory. Brown hit .526 in another virtuoso performance for the junior middle hitter, while Popplewell chipped in three service aces and seven digs as Hillsdale outhit Walsh .279 to .149 at the net. Braswell was close behind with 10 kills of her own and seven digs in a strong performance, and Kolp added six kills as well.
In potentially her final home match for the Chargers, Alli Wiese led Hillsdale defensively with 12 digs and keyed a solid back-row effort. Senior Audrey Riley also chipped in five digs and two aces for Hillsdale, and setter Lauren Passaglia had a phenomenal outing, with 34 assists in just three sets along with six digs.
On senior day, Hillsdale celebrated graduating senior Wiese, who will go down in program history as one of the greatest liberos Hillsdale has ever had, along with fifth-year players Riley and Kolp, who returned for an extra year. All three will hope to play at least one more home match in the G-MAC Tournament in two weeks, depending on how seeding shakes out.
Hillsdale's victory over Walsh greatly increases the intrigue in the G-MAC heading into the final week of the season. The Cavaliers still control their own destiny for the top overall seed in the G-MAC Tournament and the G-MAC North Division crown but have a tough closing stretch that includes home matches against top five G-MAC teams Northwood and Ashland. A loss to either the Timberwolves or Eagles could drop the Cavaliers into a tie with multiple teams and open the door for two-loss Hillsdale and Ashland, or even three-loss Findlay, to claim the top seed depending on how the tiebreakers and results shake out.
At 22-5 overall and 14-2 in the G-MAC, Hillsdale still has a chance but must navigate a tough three-match stretch of their own next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, starting with a road trip to Malone at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
Photo by Jordan Monnin