A young Hillsdale College women's volleyball team got a taste of NCAA Tournament-level competition to open the season on Friday, splitting a pair of matches against 2024 NCAA Tourney qualifiers on the first day of the season in Lakeland, Florida.

In the opener, Hillsdale showed guts in battling back from a 2-1 set deficit to top Anderson (SC) in five sets in the Chargers' first match in the Jet's Pizza Florida Southern Classic. Backs to the wall after a tough third set loss, the Chargers seized control of the fourth set on a 4-0 run tied at 16-all with the Trojans, paced by two kills from junior Emory Braswell. Hannah Baker and Jenna Southland each had clutch kills late in set four to help Hillsdale take a 25-20 victory and force a deciding fifth set.

In the fifth and final set, Hillsdale never trailed Anderson after taking a 2-1 lead early, staying one step ahead of the Trojans and fighting off multiple runs by Anderson. With a 12-11 lead late, Hillsdale scored three of the final four points to clinch the match, including kills by Caroline Lanicek and Southland, and a big block by Southland an Josie TeSlaa that put the Trojans away for good.

Hillsdale had opened the match on fire, rolling to a 25-16 first-set victory where the Chargers put up 17 kills and hit .424, but Hillsdale had to rally after Anderson fought back and took sets two and three.

The Chargers outhit the Trojans .224 to .153 and finished with 61 kills to 53 for Anderson to hold the edge offensively in the match. Balanced contributions made a huge difference for the Chargers, as Braswell led the way with a 13 kill, 19 dig double-double, but Southland also had a huge match with 13 kills, five total blocks and four digs. Lanicek chipped in 11 kills and four blocks to give Hillsdale three in double figures, Adi Sysum added eight kills and four blocks, and Hannah Baker chipped in seven kills for the Chargers.

True freshman Madison Peal started at libero for the Chargers and put up 18 digs in her first collegiate match, and TeSlaa led Hillsdale with 36 assists, four kills and eight digs against the Trojans. 

Grace Drake chipped in 12 assists as well for the Chargers.

In the nightcap, Hillsdale hung tough with another Southern powerhouse, perennial NCAA Tourney qualifier Augusta, but the Jaguars edged out the Chargers by nine total points in three sets to take a 3-1 victory and leave Hillsdale with a split of the day.

Although Hillsdale trailed just 23-22 late in the first set, and was serving for set point twice in set two, the Chargers came up short in 25-22, 29-27 losses to fall into a 2-0 hole. Hillsdale got back into the match with a dominant 25-17 victory in set three, but couldn't get over the hump in set 4 to force a fifth set. The Chargers closed to 19-17 in the fourth set but that was as close as Hillsdale would get to the lead.

The Chargers surpassed the Jaguars in kills, 59-52, but couldn't overcome errors, committing 26 attack errors and 11 service errors that proved to be the difference in a tight, hard-fought match.

Southland had another big match offensively for Hillsdale, leading the team with 16 kills and five digs, Hannah Baker chipped in a career-high 14 kills and Lanicek added 11 kills as well for the Chargers. Hillsdale's back row was extremely active in a match that included several long rallies and strong play from both squads, with Peal finishing with an impressive 33 digs in the loss, junior Chloe Pierce chipping in 21 digs and three service aces, and redshirt freshman Ella Byrum adding 11 digs as well.

Josie TeSlaa led the Chargers with 26 assists, and freshman Grace Drake chipped in 21 assists as well in the loss.

Hillsdale is now 1-1 overall and will wrap up the Florida Southern Classic tomorrow at noon with a match against the host Mocs, coached by Hillsdale College alumnus and Hall of Fame volleyball player Ashlee Crowder.

Photo Courtesy of Florida Southern Athletics