The Hillsdale College women's volleyball team got a morning win over Parkside in four sets to kick off the Midwest Regional Crossover on Friday at the Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Indiana, but came up just short in a thrilling five set match against Rockhurst to finish the first day 1-1. 

The Chargers took down Parkside 25-21, 26-28, 25-20, 25-13, overcoming a loss in the second set and coming from behind in the third set to seize control. Hillsdale trailed 17-14 in set three and in danger of going down 2-1 in the match, but rallied with a 5-0 run that included two kills by freshman Ellie Fles to seize the lead. Fles added two more kills and senior Lauren Passaglia chipped in two more down the stretch to help Hillsdale get the set victory. The momentum of that comeback carried over to the fourth set, where Hillsdale jumped out to a 16-6 lead and never looked back.

Senior Marilyn Popplewell led Hillsdale in the win with a 15 kill, 14 dig double-double, Passaglia added 10 kills, 13 assists and seven digs, and Fles chipped in nine kills as well. Junior middle hitter Adi Sysum added five kills and led the Chargers with five block assists, while libero Amanda Hilliker had a fine match with 26 digs and Josie Teslaa added a team-high 24 assists, two aces and six digs as well. Sophomore Vasiliki Paplomata finished with five digs and seven assists as well for Hillsdale and played a valuable role off the bench in settling the team down after a rocky start to the second set.

In the afternoon match, Hillsdale overcame a two sets to zero deficit to force a deciding fifth set, and led as late as 13-12 in the fifth, but couldn't hold on in a 20-25, 17-25, 27-25, 25-19, 13-15 loss to Rockhurst. After a rough first two sets offensively against the Hawks, Hillsdale hit its stride in sets three and four, hitting .256 with 15 kills to pull out an extended set three and keep the match alive, and finishing with 14 kills on a lights-out .462 hitting percentage in set four to give themselves a chance to pull out the win.

Hillsdale played well in set five, scrapping for every ball and leading by as much as 12-9 late, but Rockhurst strung together the kills it needed with the match on the line to finish off the Chargers in the end.

Passaglia had a great all-around match for the Chargers, leading with a career-high 16 kills and also chipping in 21 assists, 10 digs, two blocks and two service aces for a rare triple-double. Sophomore Greta Wise added 10 kills for Hillsdale, Popplewell chipped in nine kills, 12 digs and two service aces, and Sysum added four kills, four total blocks and four service aces as well.

TeSlaa finished with 19 assists and three service aces for Hillsdale against Rockhurst, and Amanda Hilliker chipped in a team-high 16 digs as well. 

Hillsdale is now 12-3 on the season, 6-1 in G-MAC play, and has one more Midwest Crossover match tomorrow, with the time and opponent to be determined later tonight once all of Friday's matches are complete. Stay tuned to hillsdalechargers.com for more information on the opponent and time for tomorrow's match in Hammond.

Photo by Reva Ludwig