The Hillsdale College volleyball team continued an impressive early start to G-MAC play with a dominant home victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday night.

The Chargers rolled in all three sets, finishing with 12 or more kills in every set while hitting an impressive .354. Hillsdale jumped out to an big early lead in sets one and two and never looked back, then rallied from a slow start in set three to close out their seventh win in a row, and nine in ten matches to start the season.

Hillsdale's efficient attack drew heavily on its depth on Friday, with no player finishing with more than seven kills, but 11 different players contributing multiple. Senior Lauren Passaglia led the way, hitting .400 with seven kills in just two sets of action while also contributing 15 assists, three block assists, and four digs. Marilyn Popplewell also put up solid numbers despite playing in just two sets, chipped in six kills and three digs as well. 

Middle hitters Sydney Sahr and Adi Sysum had big performances for the Chargers, each finishing with five kills apiece. Sahr hit .833 and added three total blocks in two sets of action in an explosive performance, while Sysum hit .714 in a single set of action as well.

Libero Amanda Hilliker led Hillsdale defensively with nine digs and Chloe Pierce chipped in eight. Freshman Jenna Southland also played well up front for Hillsdale, leading the Chargers with four block assists in just one set. Josie TeSlaa chipped in 13 aces for Hillsdale and Vasiliki Paplomata added nine assists and seven digs as Hillsdale assisted on 43 of their 44 kills.

The Chargers, now 9-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play, look to remain out in front in the G-MAC North with another match on Saturday at 1 p.m. against a much-improved Thomas More squad that currently leads the G-MAC South Division. 

Photo by Reva Ludwig