“We always go into a match asking, ‘Who are we better than today?’ And the answer is no one,” said Hillsdale volleyball head coach Chris Gravel. “During that match we are just trying to be better than that team that day.”
This weekend, the Chargers proved to better than both Lake Erie and Ashland. The Chargers defeated Lake Erie 3-1 on Friday and Ashland 3-1 on Saturday giving Hillsdale a 2-0 start in the conference. The spotless weekend elevated the Chargers to a 8-1 record overall.
On Friday, the Chargers stopped at Lake Erie to challenge the Storm, coached by former Hillsdale assistant coach, Kevin Foeman.
“They hadn’t played the weekend before so they were pretty fresh,” Gravel said. “Obviously with our old assistant coach being there they knew what we were going to do for the most part. They were ready for us. They came out, and they played tough.”
Senior middle hitter Emily Wolfert said her team came into Friday’s match expecting an easy win, which resulted in a first-set loss.
“We were mostly preparing for Ashland all week because they are one of our biggest rivals. We weren’t overlooking Lake Erie but we kind of went in expecting to win, and I think that showed in our first set because we dropped it,” Wolfert said. “We immediately got a wake-up call and realized we had to pick it up because we can’t look ahead to Saturday until we take care of Friday.”
After that, the Chargers settled in to beat Lake Erie in three straight sets. Freshman outside hitter Kara Vyletel led the Chargers as she matched her career-high 15 kills and had a career-high 16 digs. Vyletel is the first player to record 15 kills and 15 digs in one match since Wolfert in 2013. Vyletel also had five ace serves, which reflected the team’s overall impressive serving on the weekend.
“We’re serving for points now,” Gravel said. “Everybody back there wants to serve more points than they give up during their serve receive. If everybody does that we will get to 25 first, so we want that to continue.”
Senior right side hitter Haylee Booms slammed 10 kills while Wolfert had nine. Both Booms and Wolfert mastered consistency in this match, hitting .333 and .364 respectively. Junior middle hitter Erin Holsinger was a force at the net as she recorded five of the team’s nine blocks.
On Saturday, the Chargers arrived at Ashland ready for their annual battle.
“We were all fired up for that game but we were really focused,” Wolfert said. “There wasn’t a ton of nervous energy. It was a very cool go-get-’em mentality.”
Freshman outside hitter Paige VanderWall said that the upperclassmen have helped the freshmen keep a steady mentality.
“They keep us calm in a way that doesn’t belittle us, but in a way that welcomes us. They’re like my older sisters,” VanderWall said.
Gravel agreed, saying that his upperclassmen are really enhancing the freshmen’s abilities.
“We’re always talking about making your teammates better and I think the upperclassmen are making the freshmen better,” Gravel said. “Freshmen are doing a nice job of listening and doing what they can.”
The Chargers started strong in the first set with a 25-19 win. The Eagles came back fighting in set two to grab a 25-15 victory. The Chargers took control again in the third set to win 25-17.
Gravel said that set four was the most exciting of the weekend.
“We were down 22-17 and that’s where we really got mentally tough and embraced the moment instead of fearing the moment,” Gravel said.
A kill by VanderWall gave the Chargers their 25-23 win, and their first victory at Ashland since 2011.
VanderWall and Wolfert combined in a senior-freshman effort, each pounding 12 kills against the Eagles. It was Wolfert, however, who dominated in all areas of the game. To add to her 12 kills, Wolfert smashed seven blocks and had nine digs.
“It’s important to have a big middle that’s going to have consistency,” Gravel said about Wolfert. “It sets the tone for the whole defense, but also middles set the tone for the whole offense too.”
After Saturday’s match, Wolfert moved into the No. 10 spot on Hillsdale’s all-time kill list. Wolfert now has 921 career kills and needs only three more to advance to No. 8.
The Chargers are anticipating two more battles this weekend as they play Northwood and Lake Superior State both on the road.
On Friday, Hillsdale will play the Timberwolves who are coming off a 2-1 premiere weekend in the Upper Peninsula. On Saturday, the Chargers will make their own trek to the U.P. to face the Lakers, who are currently 0-3 in the GLIAC.
On Tuesday, the Chargers will play their travel partner, the Findlay Oilers, in Findlay, Ohio.
“We’ve had so many great matches with Findlay, they are an offensive powerhouse,” Gravel said. “It’s going to be hard to go to their place but we see that team more than any other team in the conference. We play them several times in the spring and during preseason. Our teams know each other well.”
Though the Chargers have certain expectations as they enter into their second week of conference play, Gravel said he urges his players to ignore each team’s record.
“We start a new week and, again, we’re better than no one,” Gravel said. “Maybe if we work hard this week in practice we can change that this weekend.”
