The Hillsdale College volleyball team battled on the road but couldn't overcome slow starts in a narrow four-set lost to host Cedarville in both teams' G-MAC opener on Friday.

All four sets were close, with Cedarville winning the first, second and fourth set by identical scores of 25-21, and Hillsdale staying alive in the third with a 25-20 victory.

A key factor for Cedarville in all three sets was a fast start. The Yellow Jackets scored the first three points of set one, the first six points of set two, and took a 5-2 lead in set four. While Hillsdale was able to challenge the lead in all three sets, and even briefly take advantages in sets one and four, they were never able to build a real edge for long as Cedarville took advantage of that early strong position to counter every Chargers run.

Hillsdale flipped the script in set three, racing out to an early 3-0 lead, staying in contact throughout the set and eventually opening up an advantage with a 7-0 run that turned a 12-10 deficit into a 17-12 lead the Chargers would not relinquish. Ellie Fles keyed the Chargers during that run with five kills in that span to help Hillsdale take its only set of the match.

The Chargers held a slight edge in aces and blocks but couldn't overcome a better hitting night from the Yellow Jackets, who finished with 58 kills to Hillsdale's 45 and a .174 hitting percentage to the Chargers' .107.

Fles led Hillsdale offensively with 12 kills, six digs, two service aces and three total blocks, while Taylor Cook had a strong match with 12 kills as well. Ella Vandermark added eight kills and three total blocks in the middle as well for the Chargers.

Chloe Pierce and Ella Byrum each finished with 20 digs to lead Hillsdale defensively, and Grace Drake had 37 assists for the Chargers at setter, along with 13 digs, two service aces and two total blocks.

Hillsdale is now 4-4 overall, 0-1 in G-MAC play and will look to avoid an 0-2 start in the conference with another tough road match on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Ohio Dominican, who won the G-MAC Tourney last season and opened conference play on Friday night with a sweep of Northwood.