The Collegian

Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: Sports

This weekend has the first set of conference road matches for the Charger volleyball team. They travel to play Northwood University on Friday, then turn around and make the trip to Detroit for a matchup with Wayne State University Saturday afternoon. Both opponents are currently 1-2 in the GLIAC, compared to Hillsdale's 3-0 (11-2 overall).

The Chargers already won a road match this week against the University of Findlay. It was the first time this decade they left without losing a set, scoring 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23.

They hope to build upon these wins, and their six-match winning streak, by taking advantage of their tough serving.

"If we're going to miss serves that is fine, but we just can't miss serves and serve weak," said head coach Chris Gravel. "We need to start serving more aggressively.

"Aggressive serves are the ones we are more used to, because that's what we do in practice."

One player who is performing particularly well right now is freshman Ashlee Crowder. She was recently named the GLIAC South Volleyball Player of the Week, after having a career high five service aces in a home win over Tiffin University on Saturday. Several times the other team called her serves out, and the ball dropped down just inside the line. She added two more aces in the match against Findlay Tuesday evening.

"I just have a lot of confidence in my serving right now," Crowder said. "It helps when the game is going on and we just get rolling. We just get in a groove as a team."

There was a lot of hype about the first conference match against Ashland University last Friday. Hillsdale continued to have the upper hand in the rivalry after winning in four sets. The Chargers were able to close out the first set after an incredible play by senior Jamie Murray. She ended up attacking the ball from her knees after diving to make a save earlier in the volley. The ball flew just over the net and Hillsdale ended up getting the point.

"I was just trying to focus on the ball, because I knew I couldn't get up fast enough," Murray said Friday. "I just thought that if I hit up on the ball more than usual it would get over the net."

After losing the second set, the Chargers turned up the intensity.They managed to gets leads of 14-2 and 15-6 to open up the third and fourth sets, respectively, before going on to win. A crowd of over 400 contributed to the intensity of the match. Sophomore Dean Fletcher showed up specifically to cheer against Ashland.

"I'd say Ashland looked pretty weak overall," he said. "They had some good serving, but also a lot of errors on their side. They're going to be 4-4 now, so I think they have fallen off the top of the ranks in the GLIAC. Hillsdale is definitely the best in the conference right now."

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