The Hillsdale College Chargers knew they had a tough task to kick off their home invitational on Thursday, with a revenge-minded Ferris State team coming to town.
The Chargers ended the Bulldogs' season in the Midwest Regional final in 2021, punching their ticket to the Elite Eight with a 3-1 victory on Ferris State's home floor. With a chance to get a measure of payback for that loss, Ferris State was going to do all it could to take advantage.
But the Chargers showed their poise in fending off the Bulldogs' best effort, taking care of business in a 3-1 victory, 25-16, 17-25, 26-24, 25-20, to improve to 3-1 on the season.
With the exception of a rough second set offensively, the Chargers hit the ball consistently well against a big Ferris State front line, totalling 28 kills in the final two sets to pull away. When it mattered, Hillsdale was the more efficient team, taking advantage of 28 Bulldog attack errors and 14 service errors while putting up considerably better numbers in both areas.
The Chargers started the match on fire, jumping out to a 15-6 lead in the first set and never looking back on the way to a convincing victory. Ferris State returned the favor in set two with a dominant 25-17 victory of their own as Hillsdale struggled with offensive efficiency.
Set three proved to be the critical point in the match. The two teams traded blows, with neither squad taking a lead larger than three points throughout the set. Tied at 24, senior captain Karoline Shelton put down a thunderous kill that gave the Chargers a chance at set point, and a Ferris attack error on the next point allowed Hillsdale to pull out the set and take a 2-1 lead.
Another huge early lead in set four helped the Chargers put away the match, as Hillsdale jumped out to a 10-1 advantage, with senior Megan Kolp chipping in three kills to key the run. While Ferris made a late push to try to stay in the match, the Bulldogs never got closer than four points.
Both Shelton and Kolp had strong nights to lead the Chargers offensively. Shelton finished with 12 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while Kolp chipped in 12 kills on a .526 hitting percentage and two block assists as well. Marilyn Popplewell chipped in eight kills on the outside for the Chargers.
Defensively, libero Alli Wiese led the way with 22 digs and two service aces. Setter Lauren Passaglia had another excellent all-around game as well for Hillsdale, finishing with 33 assists, 15 digs and three service aces.
Middle Hitter Maizie Brown continued her strong start defensively for the Chargers with five total blocks, including two solo blocks, and three kills.
The Chargers (4-1) are back in action again tomorrow, starting with a tough test against undefeated Missouri S&T at 2 p.m., followed by another rematch from 2021 at 6 p.m., as Hillsdale takes on Gannon in a chance at revenge against the team that ended its NCAA Tournament run in the Elite Eight last season.
Photo by Anthony Lupi