In a critical match against a top regional foe, the 18th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team fell just a few points short on Tuesday night.
The Chargers had chances to win all three sets against visiting Ferris State, losing the three sets by a combined nine points and the final two by the minimum number possible of four. But the Bulldogs found ways to prevent Hillsdale from rallying and close out all three sets in a 25-21, 27-25, 25-23 Charger defeat.
The first two sets were back and forth. There were 14 ties and nine lead changes in the first set, and Hillsdale held a 21-20 lead at one point after back-to-back kills by senior Maggie DePorre. Ferris, however, seized control, scoring the final five points with three kills and a block to take the victory.
The Chargers came out with a vengeance in set two, looking to get back in the match, and at one point built a 14-10 lead, but Ferris battled back to tie the match at 17 and from there neither team lead by moe than two points the rest of the way. Hillsdale fought off two set points late to extend the set, but Ferris got back-to-back kills from Keona Salesman to close out a 27-25 victory.
Hillsdale staged a late rally in set three, thanks to a big set off the bench from freshman Marilyn Popplewell, who had three straight kills to help the Chargers dig out of a 23-18 hole and get back to 24-23, but Ferris once again found a way to close out the set and the match when it counted with a big kill.
Both DePorre and Popplewell shined to help keep the Chargers in the match. DePorre finished with a career-high 13 kills on a .407 hitting percentage and four digs, and Popplewell also had a career-high with 10 kills in just two sets and hit .600 for the night.
Junior Karoline Shelton chipped in nine kills and 16 digs, senior Allyss Van Wienen added seven kills and freshman Maizie Brown chipped in five kills and four block assists.
The stats in the match were very close -- Ferris had just three more kills, three more blocks and two fewer attack errors than the Chargers. But in a match where the two teams were separated by single-digit points across three sets, that slight edge in efficiency proved decisive.
Defensively, freshman libero Alli Wiese led the Chargers with 19 digs, senior Madie Schider chipped in 14 and freshman Amy Buffini added 12.
Senior setter Lindsey Mertz put up 38 assists for the Chargers, as well as 10 digs and three kills.
The loss drops the Chargers to 20-4 on the season. Hillsdale will look to get back on track this weekend, with Great Midwest Athletic Conference road matches against Malone on Friday at 7 p.m. and Walsh on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22