The Hillsdale College volleyball team battled against another of the Midwest Region's top teams, but couldn't overcome a solid Grand Valley State team in a four-set loss to close out the Midwest Region Crossover with an 0-3 record on Saturday.
Hillsdale was unlucky to draw the powerhouse Lakers in their third and final game of the Crossover, as GVSU is the co-leader in the GLIAC and a fringe top 25 team, but took two shocking losses on Friday to drop down the standings. The Chargers struggled to keep pace with the Lakers in the first two sets, as GVSU racked up 32 total kills and hit .640 in the second set for 25-19 and 25-16 victories to take a 2-0 lead.
Facing down a sweep, the Chargers stepped up their play and built some momentum to extend the match in the third set. The Chargers scored the first three points on two kills and a block, and led for much of the set with GVSU never going up by more than one point. A big 4-0 run that included two kills by
Jenna Southland turned a 15-15 tie into a 19-15 Chargers advantage and Hillsdale would never trail again in the set. Late kills by
Caroline Lanicek and
Adi Sysum helped seal the deal in a 25-22 Chargers victory.
Hillsdale continued to battle in the fourth set, looking to even up the match. The Chargers trailed by as many as six points early but used a 7-1 run that included two aces from Southland and three kills from Sysum to tie the match at 20-all and threaten a fifth set. That was as close as Hillsdale would get, however, as GVSU scored the next three points to reestablish control and kept the Chargers at bay for a match-clinching 25-23 set four victory.
Sysum led the Chargers with 13 kills and five total blocks, hitting .476 for the weekend, Lanicek added seven kills, and
Ellie Fles chipped in six kills and a team-leading 14 digs.
Grace Drake led Hillsdale with 17 assists and chipped in six kills and nine digs, and
Josie TeSlaa added 15 assists, two aces and nine digs as well.
Hillsdale is now 6-10 overall coming out of the crossover, but still above .500 in the G-MAC at 4-3 overall as the Chargers return to conference play with a home match against Northwood on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. The Timberwolves and Hillsdale battled in a five-set thriller in Midland in September that was decided by a 16-14 final set, so this upcoming match should be a big contest for both teams.
