The Chargers volleyball team secured a spot in the GLIAC’s postseason tournament for the 12th year in a row with their performance last weekend, but saw their chances of postseason success slip out of reach when they lost to second-ranked Ferris State University in just three sets, 20-25, 19-25, and 10-25 on Wednesday night.
“We battled ’em tough for two sets, and then in set three, they started to make a comeback, and we just ran out of time,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “They were just the better team at this point.”
Hillsdale finished with a 12-14 overall record, its first losing season since 2002.
Gravel mourned the loss against Ferris that brought the season to an end.
“What makes this last match so hard is that, even though we didn’t win a conference title or anything, they really worked hard,” Gravel said. “Any time you have a hard-working group like that, you want them to keep going.”
Leading up to last night’s match against Ferris, the Chargers entered last weekend tied with three other teams — Ashland, Malone, and Ohio Dominican — for sixth place in the GLIAC. Only the top eight of the 16 teams in the conference compete in postseason play, meaning one of the four would not make it past Saturday. After a 3-1 loss to Ashland University on Friday night, things didn’t look good for the Chargers. Hillsdale came back, however, in a 3-1 win against Lake Erie College the next day, finishing seventh in the GLIAC, 12-13 overall and 10-8 in the conference.
The Chargers lost their first set on Saturday to the Storm but came back to win the next three.
“I think we underestimated Lake Erie at first,” junior and setter Marissa Owen said. “We had beaten them pretty good earlier in the season, and I think we went into the match thinking it would be the same. We came back to win the next three because we knew that the first loss was unacceptable.”
Junior Haylee Booms earned a team-high 10 kills against Lake Erie, but three other players — senior Meagan McPhetridge, junior Emily Wolfert, and freshman Jessie Kopmeyer — finished a close second with nine kills by night’s end, a season-high for both McPhetridge and Kopmeyer.
For McPhetridge, it was a great way to wrap up her final year playing with a team she has come to love.
“This last regular season game was extremely special for me personally,” McPhetridge said. “My time here on the volleyball team has been such a blessing and answer to prayer.”
Kopmeyer, too, ended well by giving a strong performance in the front row, though for most of the season, she has only played back row in games.
“Coach always stresses being ready to play in any position and fulfilling your role on the court,” Kopmeyer said. “We battled a lot in the game against Lake Erie and had some people really step up.”
Friday’s game against Ashland was a toss-up for the Chargers. They won their September game against the Eagles 3-0, but by last weekend, Ashland was tied with them in the GLIAC, with both teams owning a 9-7 record.
The competition was fierce on Friday, each team struggling to defend against the aggressive offense of the other. Hillsdale started off strong, winning the first set 25-17 with a hitting percentage of .407. But the next three sets went to the Eagles.
“They were able to make more plays in those sets than we were and scored 25 quicker,” coach Chris Gravel said. “Ashland is a very strong team that is well-coached and they did a good job on Friday.”
While this season didn’t turn out as most had hoped, junior Emily Wolfert is optimistic about next year.
“I think we had a lot of new players see the floor this year and really step into their roles,” Wolfert said. “I am confident that we are going to work hard this spring and can only grow from here. I’m expecting 2015 to be a great year for us.”
