The Hillsdale volleyball team had a successful tournament this past weekend as they won two of their three matches.
The Chargers came out strong in their first match on Friday when they swept Indiana-Pa. in three sets.
On Saturday, Hillsdale narrowly defeated Rockhurst in five sets. The match came down to the last few serves as the Chargers came back in the fifth set from 3-8 to win 17-15.
Several players were able to showcase their talent in this match. Junior Alexis Waugh and sophomore Marissa Owen each had 30 assists.
“It was one of my better weekends so far,” said Owen, who beat her previous record of 19 assists.
Senior Sydney Lenhart joined the American Volleyball Coaches Association 30-dig club, with a career-high 33 digs. She is the second Charger to do so this season, following junior Bailey Lindner, who had 30 digs in the opening game of the Concordia-St. Paul tournament against Wingate.
“I am very honored, but it is definitely a team effort. Without my blockers doing their job, it is impossible for me to do mine,” Lenhart said.
Lenhart, along with senior Lindsay Kostrzewa, made the all-tournament team.
“They were awesome, and a big reason why we won,” senior captain Caitlin Kopmeyer said.
Almost immediately after their long match against Rockhurst, Hillsdale lost to Southern Indiana in three sets. Kopmeyer attributed this loss to being physically and mentally drained from back-to-back games.
“When we made a mistake, we found it harder to bounce back,” Owen said.
Kopmeyer believes that the Chargers are capable of defeating Southern Indiana if they meet again at the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover tournament at the end of October.
Kopmeyer also has a positive outlook on their first conference games this weekend. The Chargers play two of their conference rivals: Grand Valley State on Friday, and Ferris State on Saturday.
“We love playing them, and we are ready,” Kopmeyer said.
Owen also expressed excitement about this weekend’s games. She explained that Hillsdale lost to both Grand Valley and Ferris at the end of last season.
“We are kind of hungry for a win against them,” Owen said.
As Kopmeyer put it, “We love beating them; there’s nothing better.”
