Box Score

A senior class intent on finishing off a very successful legacy was honored before Saturday afternoon's volleyball match between Hillsdale College and Malone University.

Those seniors stepped up to help the Chargers along on their journey to excellence.

Despite getting severely tested from a calm and strong defensive squad from Malone, Hillsdale came through with a 3-1 win to extend its record to 21-3 overall and 10-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Hillsdale won a close first set 25-22, only to see the Pioneers excel with their defense and passing in set 2, a 25-20 Malone win. Hillsdale reversed that result in set 3, winning 25-20. The Pioneers looked poised to force a fifth set when they led 19-17 in set 4. But Hillsdale turned on the afterburners at that point, taking its game to another level and finishing off the match with an 8-0 run to win 25-19.

The 11th-ranked Chargers had a hard time putting the ball away against a Malone defense that was rarely out of position. The Pioneers did a great job on serve receive and made the Chargers work hard for all of its points. But the firepower Hillsdale has showed itself, particularly in the match-ending 8-0 run, all on serves from junior Madie Schider.

Hillsdale hit .333 as a team in the fourth set, thanks in part to a spark from sophomore Karoline Shelton, who had 6 of her 11 kills in the fourth set. Shelton also tied her career-high with 21 digs, facing a ton of pressure from the Malone offense throughout the match.

Senior Dani Jones, one of the pre-game honorees, set a new career-high with 11 kills, getting off to another strong start in set 1 with 4 kills. 

Junior Allyssa Van Wienen led all players with 16 kills with a .556 hitting percentage. She was simply un-blockable when she got set. She also had 3 digs and 5 total blocks in the win.

Junior Lindsey Mertz had 37 assists in her three sets on the floor, and senior Taylor Wiese was brilliant again with 20 digs and two service aces.

The Chargers have now won 50 consecutive G-MAC regular season and conference tournament matches as they head into the final weekend of the regular season next week in Ohio.