This year, there won't be any sharing the G-MAC regular season title for the Hillsdale College volleyball team.
The Chargers captured the outright crown with a 30-28, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23 victory over host Walsh on Friday evening, their first unshared regular season title in the G-MAC since the 2021 season and their seventh title in the last eight seasons. The win also improves the Chargers to 20-3 overall, their eighth straight campaign of 20 or more wins, and officially locks up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming G-MAC Tournament for Hillsdale.
As the set scores imply, the win didn't come easily for the Chargers, who spent much of the night trailing in a raucous and hostile road environment and against a Cavaliers squad determined to pull the upset. Despite that, in the deciding points late in the sets, Hillsdale had the clear advantage in poise and execution, and that was the difference when it mattered most.
The Chargers trailed 23-19 in set one to the Cavaliers and fought off five set points in a row before scoring back-to-back points on a block and a kill by
Lauren Passaglia to pull out a wild set and take a 1-0 lead. Walsh came back strong in set two and this time a late push by the Chargers fell short to even up the match.
Hillsdale trailed by big margins in both sets three (18-14 Walsh at one point) and four (15-8 Walsh) but never panicked and kept firing back, wearing down the Cavaliers before seizing control at the final moment. One point away from defeat in set three,
Maizie Brown notched back-to-back kills to pull the Chargers back from the brink and out in front, and
Marcelina Gorny finished the set with a kill. In set four, Hillsdale broke a 23-23 tie with kills from Gorny and
Marilyn Popplewell to complete a massive comeback and clinch the match.
The Chargers had a huge statistical night, with four players putting up double-figure kills and another two with eight and seven, respectively. Popplewell led the way with a massive 20 kill, 19 dig double-double, but she was backed up well by Gorny, who had the best night of her career with 14 kills on .324 hitting along with five digs.
Lauren Passaglia just missed her third triple-double of the season with a 12 kill, 31 assist, nine dig effort as well for the Chargers, and Brown was a force at the net, with 10 kills and six total blocks.
Caroline Lanicek chipped in eight kills and
Adi Sysum added seven as well for Hillsdale.
While the Chargers excelled offensively it would have been for naught without a heroic defensive effort from Hillsdale's back-row players. On a night full of extended rallies, libero
Amanda Hilliker had the best game of her career, finishing with 36 digs, just four off the single-match record for Hillsdale.
Chloe Pierce added 21 digs for the Chargers, and
Josie TeSlaa chipped in 26 assists and six digs as well.
Now 20-3 overall and 13-1 in G-MAC play, Hillsdale finishes up the regular season with a road match at Malone tomorrow at 1 p.m. While the result of that match will change nothing for the Chargers in terms of conference finish, Hillsdale will be motivated to grab every win it can with an eye toward potential NCAA Tournament seedings down the road in the first week of December.
