The Hillsdale College volleyball team's magic number to clinch both the G-MAC North Division and outright G-MAC titles now sits at one after a dominant home sweep of Tiffin on Friday night.
The Chargers entered the match with an eye toward revenge after a five-set loss to the Dragons, their only conference defeat so far, earlier in October. Hillsdale played like it, too, blitzing the Dragons in sets one and three in a one-sided 25-12, 25-22, 25-16 victory.
Hillsdale came out with a plan to counteract Tiffin's league-leading block at the net, using quick sets to middle hitters
Maizie Brown and
Adi Sysum that worked to perfection in a first set that was never in doubt. As Tiffin adjusted their defense in sets two and three to counteract Hillsdale's approach, the Chargers moved the focus back to All-American outside hitter
Marilyn Popplewell, who took over the match with 11 kills in the final two sets.
Marilyn Popplewell finished with 13 kills and 15 digs in the victory for her 11th double-double of the season, while Brown also shined, hitting .529 with nine kills, no attack errors and five total blocks. Senior
Lauren Passaglia chipped in six kills, 15 assists, two block assists and seven digs as well for the Chargers, and
Adi Sysum and
Ellie Fles chipped in five kills each as well.
Josie TeSlaa led the Chargers with 19 assists,
Amanda Hilliker added 10 digs, and
Chloe Pierce chipped in seven digs as well.
Perhaps the most impressive stat for the Chargers in the victory was their eight total blocks to Tiffin's five, as Hillsdale decisively won the battle at the net against a Dragons team that leads the G-MAC in blocks per set by a substantial margin.
At 18-3 overall and 11-1 in the G-MAC, Hillsdale now has a two-match lead over Findlay with three matches to play and have an opportunity to snuff out the Oilers' faint title hopes on Saturday as the Chargers host their arch-rivals for a 5 p.m. match. A victory by Hillsdale would lock up the North Division title and the top seed in the G-MAC Tournament, which begins in two weeks.
