The postseason has arrived for NCAA DII volleyball teams.
And if Tuesday's G-MAC Quarterfinal is any indication, the Hillsdale College volleyball team is locked in.
The top-seeded Chargers issued their most one-sided and comprehensive beatdown of a quality opponent this season in a three-set sweep of visiting and eighth-seeded Cedarville on Tuesday in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena, winning 25-8, 25-11, 25-15 to advance to the G-MAC semifinal round for the seventh straight year.
The Chargers trailed just twice in the entire match against the Yellow Jackets and never later than a 2-1 deficit in the third set. In fact, Hillsdale raced out to huge leads in all three sets and never looked back, riding a 9-1 edge to victory in set one, taking an 8-1 lead en route to the win in set 2, and holding a 10-2 advantage in the deciding set three.
Hillsdale's dominance started at the service line, where the Chargers decisively won a battle of the two best serving teams in the G-MAC, finishing with 11 aces while holding the G-MAC leader in aces entering the match, Cedarville, to none in the contest.
Beyond the points generated, Hillsdale's strong serving took Cedarville completely out of their offensive system and left them scrambling to try and set up their hitters with anything playable. The Yellow Jackets hit -.023 for the match, with just 18 kills to Hillsdale's 42. The Chargers stepped up offensively with a strong hitting night of their own, hitting .348 at the net. Junior Marilyn Popplewell was sensational, finishing with 17 kills and an unreal .571 hitting percentage, while Maizie Brown chipped in eight kills and sophomore Adi Sysum added seven kills and six total blocks at the net.
At the service line, senior Audrey Riley had a huge night, finishing with a career-high six aces, including five in a tone-setting first set. Junior Amanda Hilliker finished with 16 digs to lead the Chargers defensively, and libero Alli Wiese added 12 as Hillsdale's back-row players put in a strong effort.
Junior setter Lauren Passaglia had an excellent all-around match for Hillsdale, dishing out 33 assists and adding two kills, two service aces, two block assists and four digs.
With the win, Hillsdale remains perfect in G-MAC Tournament play at 18-0 since entering the conference in 2017, and stays on track for a potential seventh consecutive G-MAC Tournament title. The Chargers will host both semifinals on Friday and the final on Saturday, and have a tough match ahead against fourth-seeded Findlay, who advanced past fifth-seeded Northwood in four sets on Tuesday night. The Chargers lost both meetings with the Oilers this year in hard-fought five set thrillers decided by narrow margins, and will be looking for revenge as the two teams battle for a spot in the final on Friday at 5 p.m.
Both higher seeds on the bottom half of the bracket were upset, which means that sixth-seeded Tiffin and seventh-seeded Ohio Dominican will meet in the other semifinal on Friday at 7:30 p.m., with the two winners advancing to play for the G-MAC crown in the championship match on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Photo by Hope Canlas