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or the second time in the history of Hillsdale College women’s volleyball, the team made it to the Sweet 16.
On Dec. 1, the team competed against the University of Indianapolis for the regional title. The Greyhounds hosted the regional tournament and will move forward to the elite eight, after beating the Chargers in three sets 18 – 25, 15 – 25, and 23 – 25.
“It would have been nice to play this weekend,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “With how young the team is, they did a great job and it shows the talent on the team since this is only the second team to make it to the regional tournament final.”
Gravel said playing Indianapolis showed the lack of experience on Hillsdale’s team.
“Their seniors have been there three times before,” Gravel said. “Where our team has only two players who have really been there only twice, but this tournament helped give the team more experience for next season.”
Gravel said the first two sets were a lot closer than the score indicated.
Sophomore Bailey Lindner finished the weekend in the libero position and led the team with 12 digs. Freshmen Haylee Booms and Emily Wolfert also proved to be assets for the team. Wolfert delivered 11 kills. Booms had five kills and five digs during the game.
Sophomore Alexis Waugh served as the sole setter and provided 28 assists. Lenhart had seven assists and four digs.
Junior Caitlin Kopmeyer had seven kills and eight digs. Senior Lauren Grover added three block assists and nine kills to finish her career as a Hillsdale Charger.
“The game against Indy was bittersweet,” Grover said. “I was elated to be in the Sweet 16, but nothing could have prepared me for my career to be over since this was the most unforgettable experience of my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
At the conclusion of the match, Grover, Kopmeyer, and Wolfert were all honored by making the All – Midwest Region tournament team. Grover also received All – American honors.
“I am very honored to receive this award,” Grover said. “It just speaks to the success of the entire program and how hard we have all worked.”
The team earned a spot in the Midwest Region Tournament Final by beating Grand Valley State University and Ashland University at the end of last week.
“It was a clean slate,” Wolfert said. “We just really went after Grand Valley and I think they were able to get a sense of that.”
The team first went against GVSU. Gravel said the team was not favored to win the game after losing to them in the GLIAC tournament.
“We knew that we could only go as far as we believed we could, so we started to look at them as a faceless opponent,” Grover said. “All that mattered was what happened on our side of the net.”
The Chargers lost the first set to the Lakers 25 – 27. The team then came back to win 25 – 20, 25 – 17, and 25 – 20.
“We made a switch-up going into the second set,” Gravel said. “Instead of having two setters we switched to just one, which then made the Grand Valley players begin to think a little too much.”
Grover said the switch was a smart move by the coach. She also said the synergy and communication on the court was at a very high level, which made all the difference.
Wolfert started the weekend out strong with 18 kills against the Lakers. Kopmeyer started her sixth career NCAA tournament match with 11 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore Kat Carpenter also aided the team with their win, contributing seven kills for the match.
Lindner started the tournament playing libero and delivered 25 digs against the Lakers. Freshman Marissa Owen assisted the team with two service aces.
With the win over GVSU, the Chargers went on to defeat Ashland 3 – 2 after dropping the first two sets. Gravel said with both games, the team had the belief that they could win and showed it on the court.
“We gave it all we got,” Wolfert said. “We showed that we grew throughout the season, being able to come back from losing the first two sets.”
As the match progressed, Grover said Ashland became tired and the Chargers never stopped believing they could win.
Grover, Kopmeyer, and Wolfert continued to lead the team. Grover had 10 kills and four block assists. Kopmeyer delivered two service aces, 11 kills, and 20 digs for the Chargers. Wolfert had seven blocks and 22 kills.
The team’s season ended this past weekend, completing a strong career for Grover. Wolfert said the team worked hard to get where it is now and plans come back stronger next year.