Playing for the first time in the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center on Tuesday night, the Charger volleyball team defeated Cedarville 3-1.
The Chargers came out strong in the first set, winning 25-14.
According to Kopmeyer, leading up to the season the team had been working to eliminate a slow start, which was evident by their 25-14 lead after the first set.
However, what appeared to be an easy victory for Hillsdale soon turned into a close match, as the team narrowly won the second set 26-24. The Chargers lost the third set 21-25, but were able to pull ahead 25-21 in the fourth set to win the game.
The win redeemed the team after a weekend of losses at the Concordia-St. Paul tournament.
The team lost all four games against some of the toughest division II teams, including the six-time defending national champions Concordia-St. Paul.
While the senior captains Sydney Lenhart and Caitlin Kopmeyer said they were unhappy with the results of the tournament, they agreed that it showed them what the team needs to work on to have a successful season.
“We had many close sets, but it is important that we learn to finish,” Kopmeyer and Lenhart said in an email response.
The team had especially close sets in their first match against Wingate. They lost in the fifth set (26-28, 25-17, 13-25, 25-21, 7-15), which Kopmeyer and Lenhart attributed to having too many unforced errors.
The close match against Wingate and close sets against Indianapolis (20-25, 22-25, 21-25) and Colorado Mines (19-25, 23-25, 23-25) show promise for the rest of the season.
“We have great potential as a team, but we must learn to apply and execute. Pressure needs to become our ally,” head coach Chris Gravel said.
“Our performance at the end of the season last year shows that we have a desire to improve our game every day, but we will improve even faster this year,” Lenhart and Kopmeyer said.
Lenhart has high hopes for this season and said that their goal this year, as it is every year, is to win a national championship.
“I think we can surprise a lot of people this year,” Lenhart said.
Gravel also has a positive outlook on this season.
Before the tournament, Gravel said that while the team obviously has starters, their skills run deep enough that the playing level between starters and non-starters is very close.
Lenhart and Kopmeyer expressed confidence in this season’s Charger volleyball: “We expect to win every match from here on out.”
