After the Chargers won the first set in Saturday’s game against Ferris State University, the Bulldogs pushed back, securing a 3-1 victory. On Friday night, the Grand Valley State University Lakers showed themselves to be a formidable opponent, besting the Chargers 3-0.
The Ferris State Bulldogs are the only team in the conference since 2012 with a perfect record against Hillsdale, but in no set did this year’s team seem too tough for the Chargers.
The Chargers snagged a 25-18 win against them in the first set, the offense making 17 kills and earning a .486 hitting percentage.
“Against Ferris I think we played really confidently in the first set. We were able to side out really quickly and shake off mistakes easily,” said freshman outside hitter Jessie Kopmeyer.
But the home team’s performance dipped in the next three sets, finishing 25-13, 25-20, and 25-16 against the Bulldogs.
Junior setter Marissa Owen attributed the losses not to the Bulldogs’ strength as a team as much as the Chargers’ somewhat scattered play.
“What made it most difficult was what happened on our side of the net,” Owen said. “We could have performed better. I didn’t feel that we were playing our best.”
Defensively, the Chargers collected more digs in this game than in any other four-set contest so far. Three players — junior Jordan Denmark, junior setter Marissa Owen, and sophomore libero Brittany Jandasek — made 15 or more.
Despite the dig-high, Jandasek acknowledged that the Chargers struggled defensively, but, like Owen, she felt they were capable of more.
“Ferris had a strong offense, but they weren’t too good for us to dig,” she said. “We just have to read things quicker and pick up on signals that can help us think ahead of their offense.”
On Friday night the Dawn Potter Arena saw an opponent that was hungry for conquest.
The Lakers came into Friday’s game with a 9-0 season record. The 12th-ranked Division II collegiate team in the nation, one word comes to mind when watching the Lakers: Control.
In the first set, the Lakers climbed to 20 points, while holding the Chargers to a mere six.
“Grand Valley has a really strong offense,” Kopmeyer said. “They also played solid defense and were able to end long rallies. They picked up a lot of our harder hits and were able to put the ball down.”
The Chargers played more aggressively when they gained the next 13 points interrupted by only four points by the Lakers.
Junior Emily Wolfert was crucial in the 13-point run. She led the Charger offense with nine kills and scored two service aces. Denmark made six kills with 9 digs and two service aces, and Owen made 21 assists and seven digs. Jandasek held the team-high for digs at 17 and made several clean passes off of difficult serves.
The set ultimately went to the Lakers, though, at 25-19. The next sets were much like the first, with Laker serves and hits consistently evading Charger return.
After the weekend, Hillsdale holds a record of 6-5 in GLIAC play.
“Consistency has been our biggest struggle,” said Stephanie Gravel, assistant volleyball coach. “We have great offense and defense. It’s putting it all together — consistently at key moments. We’re always striving to work on consistency in practice so that it will roll over into the matches.”
This weekend, the volleyball team will travel to the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, Illinois to play teams from the the Great Lakes Valley Conference in the annual Crossover tournament. If the Chargers land in the top eight teams of the tournament, they may have a shot to travel to regionals later in the season.