“We would bend but we wouldn’t break,” head coach Chris Gravel said of his team’s performance last weekend. The Hillsdale Chargers swept a two-game road trip to Ohio against a pair of G-MAC opponents.
Hillsdale took care of its rival, the University of Findlay, in four sets on Friday.
“We did a great job of serving tough, which kept them out of system,” junior middle hitter Hannah Gates said. “This allowed for our block to better know where they were going to set the ball and helped immensely with our defense. It’s a trickle-down effect, but it all starts with serving tough and attacking them from the service line.”
Gravel noted that Hillsdale’s strong back line on serve receive frustrated the Oilers.
“They’re the league’s best serving team,” Gravel said. “They had some really good serves that we were passing up. That forced them to serve it even harder, which forced them to make even more errors.”
Junior middle hitter Veronica O’Connor said “everything clicked” when the team stepped on the court at Findlay.
“We’ve been working on becoming a team these last couple weeks,” O’Connor said. “We’ve learned to work with each other. We’ve been working on eye contact. The two matches this weekend were great for us. They were a learning experience for working together.”
Gravel said his team’s intensity from Findlay carried into the next match.
“It’s a choice that they made,” Gravel said. “I can talk about it all I want until they start doing it. They made a conscious effort and decision to really start focusing on the details of the program. We have to keep working, celebrate short, get ready for the next one.”
The Chargers had little time to celebrate their big win before traveling to Ohio Dominican University on Saturday. Hillsdale trounced the Panthers, sweeping them in three sets and keeping them under 20 points each set.
“Coach always says that anybody can be better than anybody on a given day,” Gates said. “We celebrated the Findlay win that night but then the next morning we knew it was time to get back to work. We talk a lot about respecting our opponents and taking care of things on our side of the net. We just try to play at our pace at all times no matter who the opponent is.”
Sophomore Lindsey Mertz was awarded G-MAC West Division Player of the Week for her performances against Findlay and Ohio Dominican. Mertz recorded 43 assists against the Oilers and 35 assists against the Panthers.
“I love playing with Lindsey,” Gates said. “She’s such a hard worker and a very smart player. She does a great job of seeing the court and seeing the other teams’ blockers and getting us solo blocks. She plays a huge role in why our offense is as effective as it is.”
The Chargers return home this weekend, hosting Alderson Broaddus University on Friday and Davis and Elkins College on Saturday.
