The Hillsdale College volleyball team had a perfect weekend, winning against both Ohio Dominican University on Friday and Tiffin University on Saturday.
Their first game of the weekend against Ohio Dominican came down to the fifth set, which the Chargers won 15-6.
“We came out with energy we hadn’t seen yet this year,” sophomore Emily Wolfert said.
Wolfert played a key role in the fifth set as well as the entire match. She had 14 kills, six of which were in the final set. She also had a .429 hitting percentage.
Both head coach Chris Gravel and freshman Briana Herr said that Wolfert and redshirt junior Lindsay Kostrzewa were big factors in the weekend’s victories. Kostrzewa closely matched Wolfert’s Friday statistics in Saturday’s victory against Tiffin with 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage.
The games were not won by Kostrzewa and Wolfert alone, however.
“Everyone played this weekend who was able to,” Gravel said.
He explained that he didn’t simply play everyone because he wanted to, but because it was necessary.
“A lot did some really good things, but these are the two that stand out in my head,” he said.
Assisting Wolfert and Kostrzewa were junior Alexis Waugh, with 26 assists on Friday and 17 on Saturday, and sophomore Marissa Owen, with 21 assists on Friday.
On Friday, senior Caitlin Kopmeyer had 11 kills and 13 digs, and senior Sydney Lenhart had 16 digs.
“We finally started playing together as a unit,” Herr said.
On Tuesday, Hillsdale lost 1-3 against Northwood University. Despite never having a lead in the first set, the Chargers were undeterred. After losing the first set 19-25, they won the second 25-22.
After losing the third set 16-25, they were still unwilling to give up, and played a competitive fourth set — with nine different lead changes — before falling to Northwood 26-28.
The Chargers play their first home games in the newly renovated gym this weekend against Malone University on Friday at 7 p.m., and Walsh University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“I hope a lot of people show up because we haven’t been home in a while,” Wolfert said.
While they beat Ohio Dominican (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-6), and swept Tiffin (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) with a difference of 10 points for all three sets combined, Wolfert explained that the goal for this weekend is to increase their score difference so that they win each set by more than a few points.
Gravel said that getting ready for this weekend’s games would not be a problem because the team is excited to play at home.
“We have a lot to prove to ourselves and to our fans,” he said.
