Volleyball continues hitting stride, stays atop GLIAC
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 9/24/09 Section: Sports
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The Hillsdale Charger volleyball team moved to 12-1 after another stellar weekend, sweeping both Wayne State University and Northwood University. After this weekend, the team remains undefeated in the GLIAC and holds the number one place in the southern division.
Consistency, head coach Christ Gravel said, really plowed the Chargers forward to an impressive win against Wayne State on Friday despite sophomore Brogan Wells absence due to a dislocated kneecap she sustained at Tuesday's game.
"We had to make adjustments," he said. "Everybody stepped up and did what they needed to do."
Junior Sydney Dow said their level of synergy has been higher this year than it has in the past. That combined with their level of intensity makes them a tough team to beat, demonstrated by Friday's overpowering win against another 12-1 team.
"We didn't give them the opportunity to get momentum," she said.
The team's intensity was magnified by an overwhelming home-court atmosphere with over 600 spectators in attendance. Dow said the appearance of so many fans, including the men and women's basketball team and the football team fueled the team to perform even better.
"We were so hyped up on Friday," she said. "It was like everything went perfect."
Coming down after the high from the night before, the Chargers came out flat on Saturday but still took Northwood in three.
"Saturday came and our energy dropped," sophomore Ashlee Crowder said. Crowder was awarded AVCA Division II National Player of the Week, the first player in Charger Volleyball history to do so.
"They weren't bringing the heat on us like the night before," Gravel said. Without the same pressure from the opponent or the same charged atmosphere, the team didn't play with the same level of consistency or intensity as they did Friday.
"We played solid both days," Dow said. "We did enough to win [on Saturday], but we didn't do anything super sweet."
Next weekend, the team travels north to face two more conference opponents: Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan University, both within the top three serving teams in the conference.
Dow said this weekend will be a new experience for all the players, who have never played these teams at their home court before. The team's synergy makes her confident they will come out the victors in this weekend's games.
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