The Hillsdale College volleyball team beat Michigan Tech University on Saturday, guaranteeing them a spot in the GLIAC tournament.
Hillsdale started off the first set against the Huskies with a 3-0 lead but quickly fell behind. They managed to come back from being down 16-21 to tie the set 21-21, but eventually lost 22-25.
“We started off a little bit shaky,” junior Bailey Lindner said, “but we were just sick of losing.”
Hillsdale dominated the rest of the game, winning the second set 25-11, the third set 25-17, and the fourth set 25-20.
Redshirt-junior Lindsay Kostrzewa had 10 block assists and eight kills.
“I had been struggling a little,” Kostrzewa said, “but I told myself ‘you need to stop the opponent or somebody else is going to do it for you.’”
Going into the game against Michigan Tech, Hillsdale was coming off of a five-set loss to Northern Michigan University on Friday night.
Hillsdale came out strong in the first set against Northern Michigan, winning 25-13. However, in the second set, Hillsdale lost by nearly the same margin, 15-25.
“We were pretty inconsistent,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “At this point in the season, you hope you can be more consistent than what we provided. It ended up costing us.”
Hillsdale lost the third set 20-25, but came back to win the fourth set 25-18.
Going into the fifth set, the Chargers had momentum and started off the set 2-0. In that rally, Northern Michigan’s libero was injured, and the game was delayed until they determined that she was able to continue playing.
“That definitely took away our momentum,” Kostrzewa said. “We had all the energy and momentum, but you can’t recreate exactly what you had before. That was unfortunate.”
After their libero recovered, Northern Michigan took the next five points, and they only allowed Hillsdale to win one point before scoring four more to bring the score to 9-3.
At this point, the score went back and forth between the two teams one point at a time until Northern Michigan won the match 15-9.
“They had nothing to lose and played with no qualms and no fear. We didn’t,” Lindner said.
Lindner was recently named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District First-Team. The list, released by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America Organization, said it recognizes “the nation’s top student‐athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.”
“The key to balancing the two is setting short-term goals,” Lindner said. “It’s the only way to do it without getting really overwhelmed.”
Hillsdale plays its last two home games of the regular season this weekend. They will face Ferris State University, ranked second in the conference and region, on Friday at 7 p.m. The Chargers will then match up against the Grand Valley State University Lakers, who are ranked number one in the conference and region on Saturday at 5 p.m.
“The goal is to have four good practices. So far we have had some good and some bad, and it’s been the same in our matches,” Gravel said. “We have to prove we can show up everyday. If we do, we can win.”
