Volleyball sweeps
weekend to ensure postseason play
By Cheryl Heitzman
Collegian Freelancer
With a sweep
of their home matches this weekend the Chargers have earned
a spot in the GLIAC tournament and conference honors for one
of their players.
Freshman Taryn Rudland was named
GLIAC South Player of the Week on Monday.
Rudland's play over the weekend
was consistently impressive. She led the Chargers with 23 kills,
10 blocks and a .375 hitting percentage
Hillsdale's sweep included a 3-1
victory over Mercyhurst and a 3-1 defeat of Gannon to avenge
an earlier season loss.
The Chargers pulled out a big
game on Friday night against Gannon. The Chargers had dropped
a tough five-game match to Gannon on Sept. 20, but this time
they put together the big plays they needed and emerged with
a win.
Hillsdale looked a bit slow to
begin the game until key blocks from Rudland and juniors Erin
Bartee and Heidi Scott helped the Chargers wake up and take
it, 30-23.
The Chargers dropped the second
game, 24-30, but in the third game, they held off a late surge
by Gannon mostly due to a string of aces by Bartee and Scott.
Hillsdale won the third, 30-26, and carried the excitement of
the comeback into the fourth game.
In the fourth, Hillsdale depended
on great defensive play and steady blocking and attacking to
win the game and match, 30-23.
Coach Chris Gravel cited the play
of junior setter Karin Poschke, who had 54 assists in the Gannon
match.
"Her play selection and execution
were great," Gravel said. "She was very solid this
weekend."
Against Gannon, Rudland led the
team with 17 kills, and freshman Becky Grzegorski had 14. Bartee
and Scott added 11 and 10, respectively, and Bartee's performance
also included 17 digs.
Gravel said that things were quite
different from the first Gannon match.
"They really burned us in
some spots last time, so we made some adjustments in practice,"
Gravel said. "We were very determined to win, and it was
great to beat them."
Senior Busra Kurtuldu agreed with
Gravel.
"It was so great to beat
Gannon the second time. That was the game I was injured, so
it was personal revenge too," Kurtuldu said.
"Plus, we really didn't play
well against them the first time, and we were so mad at ourselves."
The Chargers narrowly defeated
Mercyhurst earlier in the season, but on Saturday it was not
nearly as close.
Hillsdale came out strong and
quickly won the first two games, 30-24 and 30-21. Although they
lost the third game, 17-30, sophomore Sumer Way helped swing
the momentum back into the hands of the Chargers with a spectacular
one-armed dig that landed for a point. The Chargers came back
to win the fourth game, 30-27, cruising to a 3-1 victory.
Rudland and freshman Tessa Bloemers
led the team with 11 kills. Kurtuldu added 10 kills and 18 digs,
and senior Amanda Proctor had 15 digs.
After the weekend's performance,
the Chargers are one and a half games behind Findlay in the
GLIAC South Division.
This weekend the Chargers will
travel to play Findlay and Ashland.
Findlay is currently No. 1 in
the GLIAC South. In order for the Chargers to get the division
top seed in the GLIAC tournament, they will have to win both
their games while Findlay loses both of theirs.
"Hard practices and consistency
will help us in the tournament," Jones said.
Gravel agreed, and added that
the team's hard work in practice was improving their consistency
in game situations.
"We still have some inconsistency,
but we have been more consistent in practice," Gravel said.
"It is finally starting to show on the weekends."
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Tyler Horning/Collegian
Junior Karin Poschke (L)
had 54 assists against Gannon, while junior Heidi Scott, along
with three blocks, earned 10 kills and a .429 hitting percentage
Rudland
Tyler Horning/Collegian
Junior Anthony Lewis supports
the Charger volleyball team in a "Turkish Mafia"
T-shirt, designed by senior Jane Cobb in honor of her roommate,
senior transfer student Busra Kurtuldu. The back of the shirts
features a picture of Kurtuldu and the phrase, "Going
for the Kill." Cobb has 10 shirts that she and her friends
wear at games to create a cheering section. The group plans
to travel to the GLIAC tournament, which will be held in Battle
Creek Nov. 13-15.
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