Volleyball ousted by GVSU

Home Sports Volleyball ousted by GVSU

The Hillsdale College women’s volleyball team (15-15) fell to Grand Valley last night in the first round of the GLIAC conference tournament 3-0. This was the first time the Chargers have lost a first-round tournament game in four years.

Hillsdale fought hard but came up short against the Lakers 25-23, 25-15, 25-21.

Senior Lauren Grover led the team in kills with 11, while sophomore Bailey Lindner contributed 19 digs. Sophomore Alexis Waugh served three aces.

A lack of blocking was a downfall for the Chargers, as they didn’t record a single block in comparison to the Lakers’s three solo blocks and 20 block assists as a team.

Now the team will wait until Sunday night to learn if they will have a spot in the DII regional playoffs.

Last weekend, the Chargers faced Ferris State University and Grand Valley State University on the road for their final regular-season games.

“We got off to our third weekend with a slow start,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “We did, however, play better and with more confidence than in previous weeks.”

For the first time in five seasons the Chargers lost to the GVSU Lakers 1 – 3. Junior Caitlin Kopmeyer said the team came out strong, but became too comfortable as the match continued.

For the first and second sets, freshman Jenalle Beaman served as libero for the team and at the start of the third set, sophomore Bailey Linder stepped in. Junior Sydney Lenhart said Grand Valley knew they needed to play, and that they did.

During the match Kopmeyer led the team with 10 kills, 14 digs, and two service aces. Senior Lauren Grover ended the weekend with a .333 hitting percentage for the game and nine digs. Freshman Haylee Booms had four blocks in the match against the Lakers.

On Friday, Hillsdale lost to the Ferris State Bulldogs for the second time this season. In the match the Chargers lost 13 – 25, 21 – 25, and 22 – 25.

“If we had a better start, the outcome could have been different,” Lenhart said.

“Our slow start set the tone for the match,” Lenhart said. “There were errors where we should have made kills; however, we did play well which is seen in the close scores.”

Grover led the team with five kills and four blocks. Freshman Emily Wolfert delivered seven kills for the Chargers, and Kopmeyer had six kills along with seven digs.

“We began playing like a team again [last] weekend,” Kopmeyer said. “It did not show but hopefully we will be able to push through in the postseason.”

“We are bouncing back,” junior Lindsay Kostreva said. “Beginning to talk more and finding our passion and drive again.”

 

— Morgan Delp contributed to this report.