The Hillsdale College volleyball team kicked off its 2024 home invitational in style on Friday with an impressive win over visiting Clarion, sweeping past a 2023 Elite Eight qualifier 25-22, 25-21, 25-18.

Efficiency was the name of the game for the Chargers, who finished with roughly the same number of kills as the Golden Eagles, but did so on a .289 hitting percentage to Clarion's .113. With just 12 attack errors, Hillsdale was able to pull away offensively and punish Clarion's mistakes at the net.  The Chargers also recorded just seven service errors to Clarion's 11, and had seven blocks at the net to the Golden Eagles' three in a comprehensive win.

Hillsdale seized control midway through a back and forth set one, charging out to a 20-15 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from sophomore Greta Wise. Clarion battled back to close within a point at 22-21, but Hillsdale was able to score three of the final four points to close out the set.
 
In set two, Hillsdale got in a deep 8-2 hole early, but battled back with a 6-1 run to get within 11-10, then, trailing 21-19, the Chargers rattled off six straight points to take the set, with another kill by Wise and a big triple block from Marilyn Popplwell, Adi Sysum and Lauren Passaglia helping to finish things off.

With an opportunity to close out the match, Hillsdale dominated set three, using an early 12-2 run to seize a lead the team would never relinquish. Clarion made another late run to try to stay alive, but never seriously threatened as Hillsdale put the match away.

Hillsdale showed great balance offensively in the victory, with Wise leading the way with an efficient nine kills on .389 hitting. Popplewell continued her strong start with nine kills as well, while Passaglia filled up the stat sheet again with six kills, eight digs and 23 assists. Sysum had a strong game at the net with four kills and four total blocks, while Maizie Brown and Caroline Lanicek each chipped in three blocks as well.

Chloe Pierce led the Hillsdale defense with 12 digs. 

The Chargers improve to 3-1 on the year and have two home matches tomorrow, Saturday, opening at 11 a.m. with a tough Florida Southern squad before closing out the invitational against Purdue Northwest at 5:30 p.m.