The 17th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team saw its quest to go undefeated at the Midwest Regional Crossover in Hammond, Indiana come up short on Saturday.
The Chargers fought hard but couldn't get past 25th-ranked Michigan Tech in its final match of the event, losing 25-15, 25-23, 27-25 to the top seed in the GLIAC to finish the Crossover at 2-1 overall.
Hillsdale struggled all match to deal with the extremely balanced and effective Huskies offense, as Michigan Tech hit .306 with 50 kills and four players with double digit kills. The Chargers got off to a rough start in the first set, falling behind 6-1 after two Michigan Tech service aces. Hillsdale clawed its way back to a 15-11 deficit, but the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to pull away from there.
The next two sets were much closer. Hillsdale never led in set two but tied Michigan Tech four times and nearly stole the set with three straight points when the Huskies were on set point, before Michigan Tech finally closed out the victory.
In set three, the Chargers also battled back from deficits mutliple times and had set point to force a fourth set at 25-24, but Michigan Tech took the next three points to close out the match.
Senior Allyssa Van Wienen led the Chargers with 13 kills and two total blocks, and junior Karoline Shelton added 10 kills and a team-high 15 digs as well. Sophomore Megan Kolp chipped in six kills off the bench as well, and freshman Maizie Brown added two kills and four total blocks.
Freshman Alli Wiese added 10 digs defensively for the Chargers, and senior Lindsey Mertz had a strong showing as the team's setter, dishing out 34 assists and chipping in seven digs.
At the conclusion of the Crossover, 20 players were named to the 2021 Crossover All-Tournament team, including six from the G-MAC. Hillsdale was the only G-MAC team with two honorees, led by Lindsey Mertz, who becomes the first Charger to earn three Crossover All-Tournament honors after also making the team in 2017 and 2018. Maizie Brown also made the team in her first crossover after finishing the weekend with 15 total blocks.
Now 18-3 overall, the Chargers still come away from the weekend with a win over the GLVC's top team, 16th-ranked Lewis, and now must turn their focus back to conference play and the second half of the league calendar.
At 9-0, Hillsdale is the league's lone undefeated team in conference play and the leader in the G-MAC North Division. The Chargers next face a huge match next Friday against 8-1 Ashland, the G-MAC South Division leader and the biggest challenger to Hillsdale's outright G-MAC lead and the No. 1 overall seed in the G-MAC Tournament that that title grants.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan