Jonathan Walker/Collegian
Players on the Charger volleyball team celebrate a point scored during their home match last Friday.
The women’s volleyball team played its first home games of the season at Jesse Phillips Arena this weekend against Ashland and Findlay. The Chargers lost to Ashland 3-1 on Friday before bouncing back with an impressive 3-1 victory against Findlay on Saturday. Both teams were picked in the Coaches preseason polls to finish ahead of the Chargers in the GLIAC South Division.
“We had a combination of personal expectations and first home game jitters get the best of us on Friday,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “Ashland is a very good team. There is no time or place for doubt and uncertainty with oneself or teammates when trying to defeat a team of that caliber. After working though Friday night’s loss, we were able to gather ourselves and perform to the level we needed to for a victory on Saturday.”
The split weekend moves Hillsdale’s record to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the GLIAC.
Junior Tessa Bloemers led the way in both games with double digit kills and dig totals, accumulating 12 kills and 14 digs against Ashland before coming back with a 10 and 20 effort against Findlay. Other notables included senior Sara Snavely and junior Becky Grzegorski, who both totaled 19 kills respectively.
Senior Sumer Way chipped in by averaging 15 assists over the weekend.
Sophomore Megan Howard led the team in digs in both matches with 30 and 29.
Freshman Stephanie Booms led the Chargers with 19 assists against Ashland and 29 versus Findlay. Despite her inexperience, Booms has been adapting to the collegiate competition very well. She leads the team in assists with 390 on the season, over 150 more than any other player, along with being third in digs (135) and sixth on the team in kills (43).
“The competition in the GLIAC is amazing,” Booms said. “I would have to say the biggest difference between playing in high school and college is the speed of the game. The plays develop so much [more quickly] in college. Learning to play, especially set, with new players is quite difficult. It takes a lot of repetition to get the timings right for setting, but we managed to get that all worked out during pre-season.”
“Stephanie has done an amazing job,” Gravel said. “She comes to us with a lot of experience, which has helped her adapt quickly to this level of play. She is a quick study and continues to elevate her level of play every week.”
Unfortunately, the victory over Findlay came at a price, as junior Taryn Rudland went down in the fourth game. Rudland, who was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the week two weeks ago, suffered an ankle injury and is out for an undetermined amount of time.
“Taryn’s x-rays were negative,” Gravel said. “It appears to be a bad sprain. She will have to miss some time. The question is how much?”
Without Rudland in the lineup, the team says that they will continue to get ready for their competition with a ‘business as usual’ attitude.
“The team will be ready for next weekend’s matches regardless of personnel,” Gravel said. “Yes, changes will have to be made, but this team will rise to the challenge.”
On a brighter note, Howard was named the South Division GLIAC player of the week for the 94 digs she has had in the past three matches for the team.
The Chargers will travel to Erie, Penn. this weekend in order to face off against conference foes Gannon and Mercyhurst tomorrow night and Saturday.